Beach House Ltd.

Detail from English Bay Beach; AM1535-: CVA 99-214.

Starting in 1909, the Beach House stood on the western part of the triangular area surrounded by Beach Ave, Morton Ave, and Denman Street.

Detail from Insurance plan – City of Vancouver, July 1897, revised June 1901 – Sheet 45 – Comox Street to English Bay and Bidwell Street to Stanley Park.

Detail from Insurance plan – City of Vancouver, July 1897, revised June 1903 – Sheet 45 – Comox Street to English Bay and Bidwell Street to Stanley Park.

Detail from Goad’s Atlas of the city of Vancouver – 1912 – Vol 1 – Plate 8 – Barclay Street to English Bay and Cardero Street to Stanley Park.

Beach Avenue – Beach House Club – Dominion Motor Car – Imperial Roller Rink – Postcard – about 1911-1912.

Detail from postcard: English Bay showing Sylvia Court (Valentine and Sons Publishing Co. Ltd.).

Detail from English Bay [view from beach looking north-west along beach];AM1535-: CVA 99-1221.

Detail from http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadagood/galleries/72157622327539683/.

NOTE: Although the caption at the flickr.com link above refers to the Boathouse Restaurant at 1795 Beach Avenue, the photo above appears to be the Beach House Ltd. building, not the Boathouse Restaurant building.

A company called Beach House Ltd. operated the business.

Vancouver Daily World, June 15, 1909, page 11, column 4.

British Columbia Gazette, volume 49, number 24 (June 17, 1909), page 2587; https://archive.org/details/governmentgazett49nogove_j1g0/page/2587/mode/1up.

The president of the company was Hubert Cecil Harold Cannon [C.W. Parker, editor, Northern Who’s Who, 1916, page 123]. From about 1902 to 1908, Mr. Cannon lived at 1050 Chilco Street.

John Knox Mecredy (1860-1915) was the secretary of the company. Mr. Mecredy, who was born in Ireland, had a colourful series of business adventures in Australia before arriving in Vancouver about 1895. In the early 1900s, Mr. Mecredy became the manager of the English Bay Bathing and Athletic Club, which was at 1842 Beach Avenue, so it probably wasn’t difficult for him to start working with the Beach House.

Beach House Building

Beach House Ltd. applied for a building permit for the clubhouse in 1909. [http://permits.heritagevancouver.org/index.php?cID=1].

Municipality:	Vancouver
Permit:
Owner:	Beache Company Ltd.
Architect:	Pearce, J. S.
Builder:	Smith Bros.
Legal Address:	DL: 185 Block: 71 Sub: Resub: Lot: 14
Date (Y-M-D):	1909-06-18
Street Number:
Street Name:	Beach Avenue
Value:	$8,000.00
Remarks:	Frame club house
Reference ID:	VN-3001-3001-60

John S. Pearce was an architect who had offices in Vancouver and in Victoria, BC, from about 1904 to about 1909. “John S. Pearce,” Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950, http://www.dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/611.

The building was finished by the summer of 1909.

Vancouver Province, August 7, 1909, page 23, column 3.

The company was not a success. On June 27, 1910, the company made an assignment for the benefit of its creditors.

British Columbia Gazette, volume 50, number 28 (July 14, 1910), page 7674; https://archive.org/details/governmentgazett50nogove_h4s2/page/7674/mode/1up.

The building and its contents were for sale in August 1912.

Vancouver Province, August 8, 1912, page 27, column 5.

Within a few years, the building was a prominent location for advertising billboards.

Detail from English Bay, Vancouver, B.C.; S. Thomson Photo; AM1535-: CVA 99-5105; 1917.

The building was still standing until at least 1919, when it appeared in a panorama photograph of English Bay during the Great Peace celebrations on July 19, 1919.

Detail from [Panoramic view of English Bay beach, Sylvia Court Apartments (decorated in the Great Peace celebration) and bathhouses from the English Bay Pier]; W.J. Moore Photo; AM54-S4-3-: PAN N77.

This area later became part of Morton Park. Further information appears on the page for the Imperial Roller Skating Rink.

Morton Park, Vancouver, British Columbia; Google Streets, searched October 21, 2020; image dated September 2018. “A-Maze-ing Laughter,” a series of bronze sculptures, is at the centre right.