Yet Another 50's Bungalow Has Disappeared

After nearly 39 years of looking out our front windows across the street and seeing the same house, this is pretty traumatic. Of course, we knew it was coming. Very few of these 50's bungalows get bought by anyone who isn't set on tearing it down and building something much larger with a second storey. It is also heartrending because we were very fond of the neighbours who lived there for many years; in fact, they were key people in the neighbourhood, helping to organize the July 1 block party and involved at the Dunbar Community Centre. One small example of their supportive presence in the neighbourhood is that they held keys to a number of nearby houses because they looked after them while the occupants were away. Their house and garden were very well cared for. I'm doing a more detailed chronology than I usually do because of the house's proximity to mine.

 October 2013: sold

Later in October: foggy fall scene

 

November 2013: pink sunset

February 2014: with view of mountains

June 2014: the lawn has dried up due to no watering and some boxwood, other plants, and the trellis have disappeared

 

August 24, 2014: the lawn is even drier, all the boxwood has gone, and orange protective fencing has been installed

August 28, 2014: during the previous several days, the drywall was removed, and the workers left the windows open

August 28, 2014: mid afternoon, the excavator arrived

 A huge truck arrived to take the debris to the landfill.

  

August 28, 2014: at the end of the day

On August 29, the well-built garage was demolished. The demolition company separated all the concrete and sent it off in large trucks.

The one good thing about this demolition is that I was not home to have to witness it because I was planting a herb garden some 20 blocks away. Thanks to my husband who took photos of this demolition at 4085 West 31st Avenue.

One Less 50's Bungalow

According to neighbours, this house was already in poor condition in 1988 when it was sold, and it should have been torn down then. But the owner rented it out to students until recently. Photos from March 2013 and July 21, 2014:

Since I heard noises, I took a slight detour on my way to Stongs on Saturday, July 26, and came across this sight at the rear of the building.

 At the front, there was increasing transparency.
 

On my return from Stongs, this was the view at the rear.

On Sunday most of it was down, but you could see a bit of the living room fireplace. The rest came down on Monday.

The first house on this 4000 block of 29th was torn down in 1986. Now fewer and fewer of these early 1950's homes are left. They were built for young families with moderate incomes. Now those young families (often with help from parents) are populating East Vancouver, and we miss having them in the Dunbar area.

Near St. George's School

Although this house appears to be a typical 1950's bungalow (and it was built in 1955), it has a special history known by the neighbours. There was a fire, and then it was "rebuilt from the foundation up" in 2004. It was for sale in April 2014, and I had it on my list of "photos to take". However, I nearly missed getting a photo because I was away in May and did not get over there in June. While returning from shopping on  a hot day, July 12, I was walking under the shady trees on West 29th when I heard noise from an excavator. I rushed over to Wallace Street and caught this photo at the last minute. A developer must have purchased this 68x122 property and acted quickly to demolish. The location is 4445 Wallace Street, on the west side of St. George's Jr. School.