For 95 years, the “Queen Marine” has watched time pass from her perch in Dundarave.
With a dignity befitting her age, the heritage house is about to begin “the most magnificent journey of her life.”
“However sad it is for West Vancouver to lose this beauty, she will soon be a greatly valued asset to her new family on Malcolm Island,” says Ronel Dreyer of Nickel Brothers, which is in charge of saving the house from demolition.
Dreyer says a third-generation Finnish Canadian family has bought both the house at 2367 Marine Drive and another 1925 “embattled but now saved” heritage home on Larch Street in Vancouver.
“This Malcolm Island family is the perfect match for both these homes which were now saved in the nick of time,” Dreyer says in an email. “On Malcolm Island there is no wait for a building permit and a direct barge sealed this successful relocation. This family also possesses the heavy equipment resources to build or alter roads, assist at the barge site and whatever other obstacles may arise at the destination.”
The property’s developer gave Nickel Brothers the challenge of finding a new home from the house. Nickel Brothers, which has moved other North Shore heritage houses, advertised the house for sale to recoup its expenses. The company usually gives a name to its houses and Dreyer came up with the name Queen Marine because of the house's quietly regal stature.
The following is the house’s projected journey from West Vancouver to her new home on the island east of the northern tip of Vancouver Island.
• Mon., Nov. 2, 11:59 p.m: roll off site at 2367 Marine Dr., east of 24th St.
• Tues., Nov. 3, early morning: Marine Dr to 14th St. to entrance of Ambleside Park
• Tues., Nov. 3, 5 a.m.: staged in waiting
• Tuesday November 3, 2 to 5 p.m.: joins her sister house from Larch St. on the barge to Malcolm Island
