Description du lieu patrimonial

The Cardero Grocery, located along Cardero Street in the West End neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, is a turn-of-the-twentieth-century, mixed-use building. The Cardero Grocery is characterized by its vernacular architecture with Colonial Revival and Edwardian influences, with full-width commercial space on the ground floor. It is one of a number of early buildings in the area and is an integral part of the historic streetscape.

Valeur patrimoniale

Completed in 1902, the Cardero Grocery is valued for its association with the early development of the West End neighbourhood of Vancouver, as one of the oldest buildings and businesses in the immediate area. Commissioned by widow Kate Fleming, the building is also valued for its association with an early business owned and operated by a woman. The building is also significant for its Edwardian architecture, purpose-built to accommodate a shop on its main floor.

The West End neighbourhood began to develop in the 1880s, in close proximity to downtown, yet far enough from industrial Coal Harbour to offer a more tranquil environment. The Cardero Grocery is an early example of the type of development constructed in the West End during the Edwardian era boom years, which lasted until 1913. As the area grew, small-scale shops and services were established; the construction of this grocery anchored the corner with an essential neighbourhood shop, which continued with its market function through 2019. Originally owned and managed by Kate Fleming, a widow, the grocery would later be owned and operated by several families who had immigrated from Asia, representing the evolution of the Cardero Grocery. The Cardero Grocery is recognized as one of the earliest mixed-use buildings in the neighbourhood.

Kate and Richard Fleming were early and active Vancouver residents. Richard operated, and was part owner of, the Oriental Hotel in Gastown from 1889-1891, before becoming the proprietor of the Empire Grocery and Bakery on Granville Street. Kate assumed operation of the grocery store in 1899 when Richard returned to the Oriental, where he worked as a porter and clerk. In 1900, Richard was sentenced to 18-months in prison for stealing a customer's watch; he died before his sentence was finished. In 1901, the newly widowed Kate Fleming commissioned the construction of this building, opening a grocery on the main floor and living in the apartment above until the house next door was completed in 1908. Fleming continued to run the grocery until 1908 when it was taken over by William Cooper. Kate Fleming represents the trend, specifically between 1901 and 1914, when the female labour force in Canada had begun to slowly increase. Owing to the traditional ideology of the time, which relegated married women to domestic duties, it was mostly single women, including widows, who held jobs in the prewar years. Kate Fleming is a significant example of a woman who had run her own business both before and after the death of her husband and was likely among the earliest female business owners in the West End.

The design of the Cardero Grocery reflects a vernacular response to the preferred architecture of the Edwardian era. Edwardian era buildings are distinguishable by their verticality, symmetrical proportions, and wooden materials. The Cardero Grocery's design, which features elements of Colonial Revival and Edwardian architecture, is accented by its prominent hipped roof and residential second-storey, which features a recessed balcony, with tapered columns and two bay windows. The building is one of a number of historic buildings set along Cardero Street and represents the enduring, Edwardian-era character of the West End.

Éléments caractéristiques

Elements that define the heritage character of the Cardero Grocery are its:

- corner location on Cardero Street in the West End neighbourhood of Vancouver;
- continuous residential and commercial use for over a century;
- mixed-use form, scale and massing as expressed by its two-storey height, with main floor commercial use, set at grade, hipped roof, rectangular plan, and full-width recessed second storey balcony;
- wood-frame construction, with lapped wooden siding, and wooden trim elements and details, including cornerboards;
- vernacular Edwardian-era and Colonial Revival design features, including closed soffits, hexagonal bay windows on the second storey, and tapered wooden columns;
- original wood-frame and sash windows, with projecting sills, including: double-hung assemblies with wooden horns; and fixed casement assemblies;
- wooden doors; and
- internal masonry chimney.