Bow Residence

The Bow Residence is valued for its association with its architect and original owner, William Bow. Scottish-born Bow (1882-1956) had apprenticed with Sir John Burnet and Son, Scotland's leading architectural firm. After Bow finished his articles, Burnet kept him on as Junior, Senior, and later, Chief Draftsman. Seeking greater opportunities, William entered the competition for the new University of British Columbia, in which he placed second. This encouraged him to emigrate to Vancouver in 1913. Bow was for many years a resident of North Vancouver, and through his connections received numerous commissions on the North Shore. At the time this house was designed, Bow was a partner in the firm Benzie and Bow, known for its residential and institutional designs including the North Vancouver General Hospital. Bow and his family lived in this house from 1925 until he retired in the 1940s.

Architecturally, the house is valued as a very pure example of British Arts and Crafts residential design. Its most distinctive feature is a tall, prominent bellcast hip roof with a distinctive curved ridge. The oversized roof with its generous eaves give the house a unique appearance, in keeping with the Arts and Crafts idiom. This massiveness of the roof diminishes the house, reducing its apparent scale to that of a modest cottage.