Description of Historic Place

The McDowell Residence is a one and one-half storey wood-frame British Arts and Crafts style house, notable for its half-timbering and heavy brackets. It is set in a mature garden and situated on a prominent corner lot on Grand Boulevard, facing 12th Street, in the traditional garden suburb development of Grand Boulevard.

Heritage Value

The McDowell 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 now part of a rectilinear system of boulevards and parks known as North Vancouver's "Green Necklace," which also includes Victoria Park, Mahon Park and the garden subdivision of Ottawa Gardens.

Built in 1927, the McDowell 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. This home displays elements of the British Arts and Crafts style, including Tudor Revival references such as half-timbering, multi-paned windows and multiple, steeply-pitched gables. It is an example of the work of 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 Taylor Residence, as well as institutional commissions including the North Vancouver General Hospital (1929).

This house is additionally valued for its association with pharmacist Marcus Servius McDowell (1874-1959) and wife Eva Grace McDowell (1887-1982), the original owners of the house. McDowell's Drugstore, which operated in the Beasley Block on Lonsdale Avenue between 1904 and 1973, was a landmark in the community.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the McDowell Residence include its:
- location on a corner lot on Grand Boulevard at 12th Street
- 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 and irregular plan
- wood-frame construction
- steeply-pitched side-gabled roof with front gable projection, overlapping gables on the west facade and a shed roof dormer at the rear, clad in cedar shingles
- elements of the British Arts and Crafts style such as: asymmetrical massing; half-timbering with adze marks; rough-cast stucco; bargeboards with applied moulding; open front porch with heavy timber supports; inset entry; beams and brackets supporting a 25 centimetre overhang in the front gable peak; and drop finial in the front gable end
- additional exterior elements such as its central internal red brick chimney, projecting bay window on front facade, sunroom to west, and original glazed front door
- fenestration including double-hung wooden-sash windows with multi-paned upper sash