Dougall House
306 Abbott Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6B, Canada
Formally Recognized:
2003/01/14
Other Name(s)
Dougall House
Winsome Rooms
Devon Rooms
Links and documents
n/a
Construction Date(s)
1890/01/01
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2005/04/01
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Dougall House is a three-storey, late Victorian commercial and residential building located on the southeast corner of Abbott and West Cordova Streets in the historic Gastown district of Vancouver.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Dougall House lies in the historic relationship between this area and the economy of early Vancouver. It is associated with Gastown's history in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as a mixed-use district and the centre for Vancouver's trade and manufacturing. When the City of Vancouver became the entrepot between the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and trans-Pacific shipping in 1887, the hub of this international commercial activity was Gastown.
Built in 1890 by Vancouver architect R. Mackay Fripp, the building is an example of late Victorian commercial development. Constructed of masonry with stone detailing, it signified the permanence of fire-resistant building materials and heralded a confidence in the rebuilt city. Architectural elements of this building resemble those found elsewhere in Gastown; the open parapet is similar to the Boulder Hotel at 1 West Cordova Street.
The Dougall House, like many other buildings in Gastown, served a combined function of providing lodging on the upper floors and commercial space on the ground floor, contributing to the bustling street-level retail businesses in the area. The Dougall House catered to the commercial traveler and tourist, billing the establishment as a 'new building with all appliances for safety, comfort, and luxury of tourists and travelers.' Around 1910, rooms catered to the population of loggers, cannery workers, and fishermen, which indicates that the fashionable trade had left this part of Gastown.
Significant tenants included Dr. H.E. Langis, physician, and Dr. W.J. McGuigan, physician and coroner, who kept offices in the building between 1893 and 1909. McGuigan was Vancouver Mayor in 1904, and served as medical superintendent for the CPR in Vancouver.
Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Character-Defining Elements
The key elements which define the heritage character of the Dougall House include:
- the relationship between this building and its neighbours within the Gastown historic district
- its siting on the property lines, with no setbacks
- retail use of main floor, as indicated by the fenestration and storefronts
- corner location with splayed entrance
- late Victorian architectural elements, including pilasters dividing the bays of alternating rusticated stone and smooth brickwork, moulded brackets below a horizontal string course at the base of the open balustered rusticated stone parapet; pattern of fenestration (one-over-one double-hung wood sash), and moulded recessed brickwork spandrels between upper storey windows
Recognition
Jurisdiction
British Columbia
Recognition Authority
City of Vancouver
Recognition Statute
Vancouver Charter, s.593
Recognition Type
Heritage Designation
Recognition Date
2003/01/14
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
n/a
Theme - Category and Type
- Developing Economies
- Trade and Commerce
Function - Category and Type
Current
Historic
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Hotel, Motel or Inn
- Commerce / Commercial Services
- Eating or Drinking Establishment
Architect / Designer
R. Mackay Fripp
Builder
n/a
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
DhRs-481
Status
Published
Related Places
n/a