Description of Historic Place

The Hendrix House is a gable-roofed two-storey structure, part of a row of gabled small houses located mid-block on the north side of the 800 block East Georgia Street, in the Strathcona neighbourhood of Vancouver.

Heritage Value

The Hendrix House, built in 1905, has primarily historic, social and cultural significance, particularly its association over its long history with immigrant populations. From 1938 to 1952 it was the residence of Nora Hendrix, grandmother of Jimi Hendrix, American guitarist of cultural importance in the 1960s. She was a former vaudevillian and a founder of the Fountain Chapel at 823 Jackson Avenue, which was a focal point of black cultural activity in Strathcona.

Nora Hendrix is one of the many residents that, together, form a record of Strathcona’s role as the entry into Vancouver for working class immigrant groups. Initially, this was made up of British immigrants, followed by East European Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Portugese, African-Americans, Italians, and, later still, the Chinese and Vietnamese. In more recent times this has expanded to include refugees from Africa, Central America, and the Middle East.

The Hendrix House is also a good example of the neighbourhood’s modest workers’ housing, built at the turn of the twentieth century for the working class and lower middle class. It features a bay window set behind a full width front porch, and decorative shingling in the gable end. Its simple gable-roofed form and restrained wood detailing are typical for inexpensive housing of this period. The streetscape formed by the house and its gabled neighbours is one of the stronger assemblies in the neighbourhood, with each showing adaptations reflecting long histories with many owners. Its garage, once a workshop, is an example of the variety of buildings constructed over the last century to accommodate the working life.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Hendrix House include its:

- location on East Georgia Street in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood, among an assembly of other heritage homes of a similar style
- residential form, expressed by its two-storey front-gabled plan and elevation facing East Georgia Street
- modestly-scaled simple construction
- main gable roof and smaller rear gable sharing an eave line
- shingling in gable ends
- verandah with hipped roof at main floor level
- richly-trimmed bay window facing the street at main floor level
- simple wood bevel siding
- vertical tongue-and-groove siding below main floor
- simple, straight walkway leading from city sidewalk to wide wood stairs up to verandah and front door
- wood windows: sash, frame, and interior and exterior trim
- 1940s or 50s garage building, once a workshop