Vancouver’s architecture is often difficult to distinguish as many of its homes are adaptations or amalgamations of more recognized styles. By cataloguing them, we gain an understanding of our homes and neighbourhoods, which gives us all a sense of pride in our city. With this is mind, the Vancouver Heritage Foundation provides Scout with an exclusive series that we call The Roof Over Your Head.
Introduced after the influential 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego, architects of the Spanish Colonial style utilized architectural features seen in Spain for more elaborate architectural styling. Featuring gardens surrounded by walls of the same stucco finish as the houses, Spanish Colonials typically exhibit asymmetrical massing with open gables to the street. Low-pitched roofs are designed for clay tiles, and often combine both hipped and gabled roof structure. They are also often marked by regionally distinctive overhanging eaves.
Casement windows with muntin bars (the cross pieces that divide paned windows glass) are hung in pairs, mimicking the double doors which open to the patio. Arches are a dominant feature used for windows, doors, and porches highlighting a front door of robustly detailed wood. Some homes will have the very distinctive features of triple-arched or parabolic windows, sometimes with stained glass, spiral columns at doors and windows, round or square towers, arcaded walkways and fountains.
Spanish Colonials have many of the indicative Spanish style accents such as red tile roofs, white rough-cast stucco, heavy robust wood accents around windows, doors, and eaves, ornamental wrought iron, and iron accents. Patterned tiles are often used as an accent in the stucco of open–ended gables or on stair risers.
This style ranged in Vancouver from elaborate mansions such as Rio Vista and Casa Mia, to California style “ranchos”. Examples can be found on the southeast corner of 33rd & Larch and at 5230 Marguerite. Various local neighbourhoods also showcase examples of Spanish storybook hybrids and Spanish-inspired bungalow homes, such as Kania Castle on Bellevue Street (pictured above, center-left).
OTHER ROOFS OVER YOUR HEAD
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Vancouver Heritage Foundation is a registered charity supporting the conservation of heritage buildings and structures in recognition of their contribution to the city’s economy, sustainability and culture. VHF supports Vancouver’s built history by offering educational tours, talks and lectures, courses, and special events. Launched early in 2013, the Vancouver House Styles Architectural Web Tool is a free online reference cataloguing Vancouver’s common architectural styles.