Vancouver Special House Tour

The Vancouver Heritage Foundation, known for hosting unique history-filled tours around the city, presents the Vancouver Special House Tour on September 22nd.

A 2012 tour home. Photo courtesy of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.

Learn more about these unique-to-Vancouver houses, their building styles, and see how owners have transformed and modeled these dwellings.

What is a “Vancouver Special“?
Some say it derives from the “Rancher” turned sideways, to adapt to Vancouver’s narrow lots. Popular and quick to build, thousands of “Vancouver Specials” were constructed in the 1960s and 70s in bluecollar neighbourhoods all over the Lower Mainland, and have become a dominant house type in Vancouver.

The sheer quantity of Specials and their adaptability to two family dwellings has made them very attractive to first time buyers. We are excited to see this stock gain respect and value, so Specials are retained and not sent to the landfill. The highest volume of landfill today is coming from demolished buildings.

The tour will take you through five specials from 1:00pm to 5:00pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012. Tickets are available for $30 and will be going fast (many tours like this tend to sell out).

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