Twambly House

The heritage house at 656 East Cordova Street provides an important point of reference to the earliest residential development in Vancouver and makes a significant contribution to the architectural context of the area. Listed in the “B” category of the Vancouver Heritage Register, it was built around 1895 by W Tambly.

The vertical proportions and “decorated shed” details of this house refer to late Victorian residential prototypes. Simple gable-end massing is enhanced with the asymmetrical placement of the bay window, and an aedicular porch treatment with a subsidiary gable.

The one and a half storey mass of the house is clad with drop siding and significant decorative treatment such as the dentilled barge-boards, shingling to main and porch gable-ends, pierced fretwork to the main gable apex, diamond panels to the bay window, and decorative bracketing to the porch columns. It is a fine and typical example of late Victorian housing in the Strathcona Area.

In 2001 it was repainted in a historical colour scheme with the assistance of a VHF True Colours grant. In 2021 the paint scheme was refreshed.

Source

City of Vancouver, VHF Files

More information

http://former.vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/010913/ph1a.htm