{"id":30081,"date":"2017-05-31T13:14:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-31T20:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/?p=30081"},"modified":"2017-06-05T13:18:20","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T20:18:20","slug":"sweet-success-rogers-family-legacy-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/vancouver\/2017\/05\/31\/sweet-success-rogers-family-legacy-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Success: The Legacy of the Rogers Family (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week<\/a> we told the story of sugar magnate B.T. Rogers whose entrepreneurial spirit resulted in a 127-year-old industry and an impressive waterfront factory that is still in use today. This week we look at the results of that burgeoning sugar enterprise which afforded the Rogers family a baronial lifestyle. Rogers with his wife Mary Isabella built two estate mansions that remain Vancouver landmarks: Gabriola<\/em> on Davie Street, and Shannon<\/em> on Granville Street. Glamorous, resplendent and exclusive, both of Rogers\u2019 mansions epitomize early 20th<\/sup> century wealth and privilege and remain as iconic heritage locations in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

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Rogers Children 191-. CVA AM1592-1-S2-F08- 2011-092.3813<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gabriola<\/em> was the largest and finest mansion in the city when it was completed in 1901. At two and one-half stories, designed entirely in stone \u00a0from Gabriola Island and situated on a full city block on Davie Street, the home was one of Samuel Maclure’s largest early commissions. Gabriola<\/em> established an image of solidity and prosperity. A carved frieze, Art Nouveau figures, an enormous terra cotta overmantle, and carved oak paneling speak to its superior craftsmanship. Gabriola<\/em> was described in the Vancouver Daily World on July 15, 1901:<\/p>\n

“Gabriola marks an epoch in the residential development of Vancouver, being, as it is, the most costly and complete domiciling building yet erected here. On the successful completion of the work, Samuel Maclure, of Victoria and Vancouver, its architect, is to be congratulated.”<\/em><\/p>\n

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Gabriola<\/em> 1904, VPL 1489.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the city grew, the West End became less fashionable. On a trip to England in 1911, B.T. fell in love with the English garden aesthetic. In 1912, B.T. purchased a ten-acre parcel of land at Granville Street and Shannon Road (now 57th Avenue) on which to build a grand estate home exceeding the splendour of Gabriola<\/em>. Charles Bentall, of the Dominion Construction Company, was asked to build his house. By 1913, architects Somervell & Putnam were hired to design a large Beaux Arts style house, coach house and garage and Parisian firm L. Alavoine & Co. was retained to design the interiors. Called Shannon<\/em>, this ambitious forty-room mansion was the largest residence west of Toronto.<\/p>\n

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Shannon<\/em>, 192-. Leonard Frank photographer. CVA 2011-092.1889<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the summer of 1918, before the house was complete, B.T. Rogers died unexpectedly at the age of fifty-three. His widow, daunted by the scale of the project, asked Bentall to halt the work at Shannon <\/em>until she could sell Gabriola<\/em>. \u00a0The construction of Shannon<\/em> went on until 1925, but Gabriola<\/em> had still not been sold, so Mrs. Rogers accepted a proposal to redevelop the Davie Street site. The main house was converted into six elegant apartments, retaining many of the original interior features, while the conservatory and greenhouse were removed to allow the construction of the new building. In the 1970s, the new Angus Apartments <\/em>building caught fire and burned down, but the main house survived, and continued to be used as a residence until 1978.<\/p>\n

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Main hallway at Shannon<\/em>, 2017. Martin Knowles Photo\/Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During its heyday,\u00a0Shannon<\/em>\u00a0was home to a staff of twelve, and played host to many of Vancouver\u2019s most elegant parties. Mrs. Rogers and her children lived in the house until 1935, when Financier Austin C. Taylor purchased it. The Taylor family lived here until Austin Taylor\u2019s death in 1965.\u00a0The property was purchased in the late 1960s by Wall & Redekop (now Wall Financial Corp.) and\u00a0Erickson\/Massey Architects\u00a0was retained in 1972 to redevelop the property for a residential development as Shannon Mews but the original mansion, coach house and garage were preserved, as was much of the landscaped setting.\u00a0A recent redevelopment of the site by Wall Financial and designed by Perkins+Will architects has included comprehensive heritage conservation of the mansion, including interiors, as well as the gatehouse, coach house and perimeter wall, along with landscape elements and gardens, led by Robert Lemon Architect.<\/p>\n

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The Bungalow<\/em> by R M Fripp, 1900. Vancouver of Today Architecturally.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Rogers sugar fortune also led to the construction of many other grand buildings including B.T.\u2019s first house, The Bungalow<\/em>, designed by R. Mackay Fripp. In 1919, B.T. and Mary\u2019s eldest son, Blythe, married architect Alix Wilson, and they commissioned architect Bernard Cuddon Palmer, who also designed WilMar<\/em>, to design a grand Tudor Revival mansion, Knole,<\/em> on\u00a0 fashionable Southwest Marine Drive. In 1939, younger son Forrest Rogers and his wife, Gwynneth, began construction on 2680 West 50th<\/sup> Avenue, a grand home designed by architect John Wade. B.C. Sugar president Phillip Tingley Rogers built a grand French Provincial, mansard-roofed 50-room mansion at 2010 Southwest Marine Drive in 1953, designed by architects Polson & Siddall, that cost $135,000.<\/p>\n

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WilMar<\/em> from the 2016 Heritage House Tour. Martin Knowles Photo\/Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The architectural legacy of the Rogers family includes some of the finest homes to be built in Vancouver. Several remain and the elegance and workmanship seen in these homes still are still inspiring and offer visual reminders of our city\u2019s early trailblazers.<\/p>\n

Join us on June 4th<\/sup> to see inside the recently restored principal reception rooms, gatehouse and Italian Garden at Shannon<\/em>, open one day only on the 15th<\/sup> annual Heritage House Tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

VHF would like to thank guest writer, Donald Luxton for this post. Donald is a Heritage Consultant and Principal at Luxton & Associates Inc. He also has a sweet tooth and grew up with Rogers Sugar products many, many years ago<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

SOURCES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n