Description of Historic Place

The Huggett Residence is a modest one and one-half storey wood-frame Craftsman bungalow, identifiable for its side-gabled roof with central porch displaying half-timbering in the pediment. Surrounded by foundation planting, it is located on a mid-block lot in the traditional garden suburb development of Grand Boulevard.

Heritage Value

The Huggett Residence is valued as a part of the Grand Boulevard development, North Vancouver's most prominent garden subdivision, which was 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, one of the most significant property developers in North Vancouver, responsible for much of its residential character. 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 construction cost standards and restrictions on buildings and landscaping. Grand Boulevard is part of a rectilinear system of boulevards and parks known as North Vancouvers Green Necklace, which also includes the suburban garden developments of Ottawa Gardens, Victoria Park and Mahon Park.

Built in 1920, the Huggett Residence represents the houses built during the second phase of Grand Boulevard's development, in the period between the two World Wars when smaller scale one and one-half storey houses in traditional styles were built on remaining vacant lots. Built for Edith Tremayne Huggett (1874-1952) and Alfred Huggett (1863-1945), an interior decorator, this house displays many elements of the Craftsman bungalow style, such as a prominent gabled projection to the main façade, sturdy triangular brackets, and exposed rafter tails that give the impression of a country cottage.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Huggett Residence include its:
- mid-block location on Grand Boulevard
- setback from the street, in line with neighbouring residences
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half storey plus basement height, regular, rectangular plan, bowed bay window with curved roof and semi-octagonal bay window at rear
- low-pitched side-gabled roof with gabled roof porch; shed roof on shallow projecting bay window at the side; and gabled roof dormer at the rear
- concrete foundation and wood-frame construction
- elements of the Craftsman style, including narrow lapped wooden siding with cornerboards on the foundations; cedar shingle siding, with bellcast flare and belt course at the base; triangular eave brackets; exposed rafter tails; extended scroll-cut bargeboards; open front porch with square wooden columns, half-timbering and rough-cast stucco in the porch pediment; and two internal red brick corbelled chimneys
- fenestration, including: double-hung wooden-sash windows with multi-paned upper sash; casement windows with transom lights above; and sidelights at entrance
- associated mature landscape features