C.W. Misener House - 1913

4446 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, BC.

 

This West 5th Avenue house is a fine example of a

craftsman-style home built shortly before the outbreak

of World War I. One of the first houses built on the

block, the value of the house in 1913 is listed in the

building register at $3,500. In photos acquired by the

current owner, and likely taken in the early 1920s, the house

is shown with a wooden City sidewalk in front and nothing

on the north side of the street. Other early homes can be

seen on the south side of the street and the Queen Mary

Elementary School (1915) is visible in the distance.

While not much is known about the history of the house,

the City Directories at the Vancouver Archives show that

C.W. Misener designed, built and owned the house in 1913.

From 1918 through to the 1940s it was the home of J.W.

Barron, a manufacturer’s agent; and in the 1950s George

and Dorothy Jackson, the owners of Jacksons Meat Market,

a Fourth Avenue institution until just a few years ago, lived

in the house. Dorothy Jackson, who now lives on a heritage

farm in Ladner, related to the guidebook researchers that

the Jackson’s were long-time butchers in London, England

before immigrating to Canada in 1905. The senior Jackson

started by working night shift at a meat-cutting plant and

selling meat from a wheelbarrow to Kitsilano houses. Mrs.

Jackson recalls a 1950s renovation that removed the dark

wood paneling, plate rail and light fixtures in the dining

room and the black iron face plate over the fireplace.

 

The current owners have lovingly restored and rehabilitated

the house, and in 2002 won a City of Vancouver Heritage

Award for the front façade restoration and conservation of

the streetscape.

 

- Vancouver Heritage Foundation

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