Howard-Gibbon Residence

Built in 1924, the Howard-Gibbon Residence is valued as a very good example of the British Arts and Crafts style, with spare ornamentation, a high, prominent roofline and twin coursed shingles that provide textural interest. The Howard-Gibbon Residence is associated with the early residential development of North Vancouver as one of a group of heritage homes that face Ottawa Gardens 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 Howard-Gibbon Residence is additionally significant as a surviving residential commission by architects Blackadder and Mackay. Harry Blackadder (1882-1968) and Alexander Sinclair Wemyss Mackay (born 1878) were in partnership from 1912-1927, and the firm was well known for its residential work in the Arts and Crafts idiom, as well as many commercial and institutional commissions. The design and detail of this house demonstrates the pervasive influence of the Arts and Crafts style, which remained in favour when residential construction resumed after the end of the First World War. Blackadder and Mackay were also responsible for the Cenotaph in Victoria Park (1923) and the Dundarave Block on Lonsdale Avenue (1912). Blackadder served as the Vice President of the RAIC (Royal Architecture Institute of Canada) and President of the AIBC (Architectural Institute of BC), who declared him an Honourary Member in recognition of his contribution to the profession of architecture in the province.

Furthermore, the heritage value of this house is associated with Edward Howard-Gibbon (1881-1963), a station agent for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Company, and his wife Elizabeth Edith Howard-Gibbon (1890-1978). The house was built on land acquired from Peter and Gerda Larson, who owned the adjacent house at 254 West 6th Street, built in 1921 and also designed by Blackadder and Mackay.