In this week’s local history feature, we wrap up our examination of houses built by mining companies, specifically Hollinger’s houses in the Hill District, built for superintendents and supervisors at the mine.
Museum director-curator Karen Bachmann tells us that while those houses have all undergone exterior facelifts, a lot of the original design elements remain inside.
There was a lot of B.C. fir used in construction, because the mine also used it underground.
“Some of the woodwork in a lot of the places is exquisite,” she claims. “A lot of the design itself of the house, if it hasn’t been redone, really reflects what the houses would have looked like at the time.”
The bedrooms were small, and in some cases, there were several of them. Bachmann adds that formal dining rooms are part of the design.
“Placement of the kitchens were also important if there was staff, because some of the superintendents would have staff in their homes, so either a cook or maid or who lived in to take care of the place. So there some of those quarters that you can still see within some of the homes.”
Our continued thanks to Karen Bachmann and her encyclopedic memory, for making our weekly history story possible.