Description of Historic Place

The Taylor Residence is a one and one-half-storey plus basement wood-frame British Arts and Crafts style house, set in a mature garden and situated in the low-density suburban development of Grand Boulevard.

Heritage Value

The Taylor Residence is valued as a part of the Grand Boulevard development, North Vancouver's most prominent garden subdivision, designed to attract affluent and prominent families to the North Shore of Burrard Inlet. Planning and development was initiated in 1906 by the North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company. Following the lessons of the disastrous fires caused by that year's San Francisco earthquake, Grand Boulevard was laid out as a generous fire break. Prestige was guaranteed through minimum construction cost standards and restrictions on buildings and landscaping. Grand Boulevard is now part of a rectilinear system of boulevards and parks known as North Vancouver's "Green Necklace," which also includes Ottawa Gardens, Victoria Park and Mahon Park.

The Taylor Residence represents the houses built in the 1920s during the second phase of Grand Boulevard's development, when smaller-scale one and one-half-storey traditional style houses were built on remaining vacant corner lots. Built for Herbert W. Taylor (1880-1937), General Manager of the W. H. Malkin Company in Vancouver, this home displays elements of the British Arts and Crafts style, such as a high-hipped roof combined with a jerkin-headed front dormer and a closed front dormer that give the house a prominent profile. Heavy timber porch columns add to the solid appearance of the design. The landscaping reinforces the country lifestyle appearance; the large lot retains a number of early plantings, including a variety of mature shrubs, surrounded by a wooden fence and manicured hedge.

The Taylor Residence is valued for its association with its architects Benzie and Bow, in partnership from 1923-1930 and known for their prominent residential designs; William Bow (1882-1956) was a local resident and the firm received many commissions through his connections. Bow and his partner James A. Benzie (1881-1930) designed several houses on Grand Boulevard, including the Young Residence and the McDowell Residence, as well as institutional commissions, including the North Vancouver General Hospital in 1929.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of Taylor Residence include its:
- irregular form and massing
- low scale, with apparent height reduced by broad, high overhanging rooflines
- location on a corner lot on Grand Boulevard
- setback from street on a large property
- open entrance porch with timber columns
- high hip roof with jerkin-headed front dormer, hipped roof above entry and clipped eaves
- elements of the British Arts and Crafts style, including asymmetrical massing, jerkin headed and closed gable ends and stucco and half-timbering cladding
- double-hung wooden-sash windows on ground floor, with multi-paned upper sash
- divided light casement windows on second floor
- side lights at entrance
- shingle cladding in gable ends
- original interior features such as plaster walls and wooden trim
- early garage at rear
- mature garden setting including tall conifers, fruit trees in the rear yard, and wooden fence and hedge along the property boundary