Description of Historic Place

The MacLeod Residence is a one and one-half storey Craftsman bungalow with an open half-width verandah with square porch columns, triangular eave brackets and complex roofline. It forms part of a group of mixed architectural style, single-family heritage homes in Ottawa Gardens, a planned garden subdivision that borders a wide boulevard in the 200 block of West 6th Street between Mahon and Chesterfield Avenues. Like the other adjacent homes, the MacLeod Residence is situated on the same setback from the street with an alley behind.

Heritage Value

Built in 1922, the MacLeod Residence is valued as a good example of Craftsman architecture. This modest residence is of interest for its complex roofline which features a typical front-gabled roof crossed by two parallel gabled roofs. The house is also unique for its large front elevation multi-pane transoms, and the stucco cladding and half-timbering in the front gable that demonstrates a Tudor Revival influence.

The MacLeod Residence is associated with the early residential development of North Vancouver as one of a group of heritage homes that face Ottawa Gardens, built as part of the second phase of development in the area after the end of the First World War. Designed to attract affluent families to the North Shore of Burrard Inlet, the planning and development of this area was initiated by the North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the area reflects a number of architectural styles related to its different stages of development.

The heritage value of this house also lies in its association with John Virgil MacLeod (1890-1931), an important local educator. McLeod married Muriel Lucy E. Shaw in 1918, and served as Principal of the North Vancouver High School from 1919 until his premature death at the age of forty from appendicitis.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the MacLeod Residence include its:
- location facing the Ottawa Gardens boulevard
- compatible residential setback, part of Ottawa Gardens cluster
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half storey height and rectangular plan
- front-gabled roof with parallel cross-gabled roofs
- concrete foundation with wood-frame construction
- Craftsman style details such as: twin-coursed shingle siding; decorative half-timbering in the front-gable; inset entry; open half-width front verandah with square columns; and projecting triangular eave brackets
- additional exterior elements including its original front door with bevelled and stained glass glazing and sidelights
- asymmetrical fenestration, including: multi-paned casement and triple assembly double-hung wooden-sash windows with multi-paned upper sashes; and multiple-assembly multi-paned fixed windows