Doney Residence

The Doney Residence is valued as a part of the Grand Boulevard development, North Vancouver's most prominent garden subdivision, 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. 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 minimum 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 Ottawa Gardens, Victoria Park and Mahon Park.

Along with 750 Grand Boulevard, this home is valued as marking the southern entry to Grand Boulevard and was one of the first built as part of this development, demonstrating the pattern of the earliest residences being built on prominent corner lots. This large home is symbolic of the affluence of those who first populated the area, demonstrating their status and prestige in the community. It was built for Luther Watts Doney (1869-1924) and his wife, Doris. Luther Doney was a broker in silver and gold bullion, and served as Police Magistrate for North Vancouver from 1915 until the time of his death.

The Doney Residence exhibits an unusual blend of Arts and Crafts and Chalet stylistic elements. Influenced in part by the architecture of Swiss chalets, this house demonstrates the Swiss influence with its regular massing, symmetrical front facade, scroll-cut balusters and massive front gable roof. It retains a number of early plantings, including a variety of mature shrubs, with a wooden fence and manicured hedge.