Hunter Bros. Block

Built in 1892 by Sam and Thomas Hunter, only the façade remains of this Victorian Italianate building. The façade features cast iron store-front frames, red brick cladding with contrasting green sandstone trim. For many years the façade had been disguised by modern steel cladding. Today its façade (and that of the BC Electric Co Showroom next door) is incorporated into the Hudson building, a mixed-use redevelopment built in 2004.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the lower level of this building was home to the Eastman Camera Arts Shop. The upper floor apartment were first known as the Seattle Rooms, then the Ben Ton Rooms, and the Eula Rooms.

Residential hotels and boarding houses were a common living arrangement for young working class people in the late nineteenth century, and for awhile Granville Street probably had as many boarding houses as businesses (records from this time are unclear). Many of the local businesses, such as restaurants, catered to the population in these apartment hotels.

Source

City of Vancouver Heritage Plaque Program, City of Vancouver Archives, Changing Vancouver blog, Historical and Heritage Assessment

More information

https://changingvancouver.wordpress.com/2011/12/27/granville-from-georgia/