Description of Historic Place

The Ellis Residence is a two and one-half-storey plus basement wood-frame Arts and Crafts-style house, set in the low-density suburban development of Grand Boulevard. The house is located at the rear of the large, heavily landscaped site.

Heritage Value

The Ellis 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.

The Ellis Residence demonstrates the pattern of early development in the Grand Boulevard area, with the first, largest and grandest homes constructed on corner lots. The scale of this house indicates the economic prosperity and rapid growth of North Vancouver at the time. Built in the Arts and Crafts style, its monumental proportions illustrate the character of those houses that contribute to the area's "Grand" setting.

The house is also valued for its architecture. Designed for Henry M. Ellis, a manufacturer's agent, and his wife Joan, the plans were prepared in 1909. The architects were Maclure and Fox, a partnership renowned for their Arts and Crafts residential work, traditional in style but incorporating modern planning principles. Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) and Cecil Croker Fox (1879-1916) were at the height of their success and influence during the boom years between 1909-13, designing many residences in the affluent neighbourhoods of the Uplands in Victoria and Shaughnessy Heights in Vancouver. This striking example of their work is the only known extant project by Maclure and Fox on the North Shore.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of North Vancouver

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Ellis Residence include its:
- location on Grand Boulevard
- imposing and monumental scale
- generally symmetrical form and massing of main facade, with several subtly asymmetrical projections, windows and other features
- set back towards the rear of the property
- wide proportions with broad front gable roof with overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails
- cedar shingle cladding and secondary half-timbering
- flat-roofed central entrance porch, with second floor balcony directly above
- central entrance door with flanking sidelites
- elements of the Arts and Crafts style such as the stone foundation, massive eave brackets and flared window hoods
- gable dormer on south facade with half timbering
- multiple-assembly wood-sash casement windows with straight-leaded panels used consistently throughout the house
- original interior features such as wood floors, wooden trim and plaster walls
- mature hedges, shrubs and other landscape features