Barclay Manor

In 1890, the property was owned by Sir Donald Smith and Richard Angus. Later that year, Lucy A. Tetley, wife of Charles Tetley (a mining engineer and city accountant), bought the property and became the block’s first residents. The Tetley’s built an original green and white house on the lot and lived there until 1902, when they sold the house to Edgar Bayliss. Bayliss sold the house to Francis and Emily Baynes in 1903, when it was torn down and rebuilt in 1905. In 1909, Francis Baynes added a large three-storey hotel type addition to the rear of the house at the cost of approximately $10,000. Miss Clermont’s West End Hospital rented the three-story hotel. The hospital ceased operation in 1919.

In 1926, the property became a boarding house called Barclay Manor. It served as a place for officers from naval ships to use when in port. At that time, the rent included two meals a day with maid service from $23 a week shared, to $30 a week for a single room.

In 1970, Barclay Manor ceased to be a boarding house and the property was purchased by the City of Vancouver. The 1909 three storey addition was demolished in 1988 and the rear of the house was reconstructed to a design appropriate to Edwardian times. The remainder of the house was faithfully restored to its pre-1909 condition.

Roedde House Museum and Barclay Manor are two of nine early homes saved from demolition thanks to community efforts led by the late Janet Bingham and restored as part of an innovative “Park with Houses” project in the 1980s. They are now part of the Barclay Heritage Square.

The building is operated jointly by the West End Community Center and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

West End Seniors Network also operates in the building, and you can find out more about their services and activities here.