At Home with History: The Untold secrets of Greater Vancouver's Heritage Homes.

Ann Turner is Financial and Budget Manager at the University of British
Columbia Library.

Researching the history of your home and its neighbours can be an engrossing hobby, especially when it is tied in to the history of the community. The final chapter of this collection of heritage home histories describes exactly how to go about it with the resources available in Vancouver, B.C. Other communities will have similar resources to explore with this methodology as a guide. The houses researched for this book all have stories to tell. They range from the well-known mansions of Shaughnessy and South West Marine Drive to modest dwellings in Marpole, the east side, and New Westminster, such as Joy Kogawa’s former home and the house Jimi Hendrix visited to stay with his Gramma Nora. The stories are grouped into chapters, generally by area or a common theme, and set in their historical and social contexts. They include an amazing amount of detail about the houses and their former residents, historical photographs, and personal reminiscences of people who knew them. Index entries by street address bring nearby houses together, making it easy to view those in the same area and wonder if your own home also has some untold secrets to share.