Description of Historic Place

The Clifford Residence, located at 1998 Matthews Avenue in the First Shaughnessy neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia, is designed in the Arts & Crafts Style. It is a 2 ½ storey wood frame house clad in cedar shingles, with a Saltbox roof, dormers, and half-timbering in the gable ends. It is set on a corner lot that is landscaped with mature shrubs, trees and perennials.

Heritage Value

The Clifford Residence has heritage value primarily for its aesthetic, cultural and historical importance.

The Clifford Residence has historical and aesthetic value for its age, having been built circa 1912 and for its excellent representation of an Arts & Crafts architectural style, which was popular during this time period in the Lower Mainland. It is valued for the integrity of that style, in particular for the horizontal, 2 ½ storey massing with a side-oriented Saltbox roof, wide overhanging eaves, large central dormer, and centred front porch with granite columns that match the foundation. It is also valued for retaining much of its original materials, in particular the cedar shingles cladding and the windows, including two small stained-glass windows.

The house has further historical value for being an early and extant house built in the First Shaughnessy neighbourhood and for being an excellent example that represents the planned and exclusive nature of that neighbourhood through its design, massing and siting on a large, beautifully landscaped lot, on a curved and tree-lined corner.

The house has cultural value for its association with early occupant George T. Cunningham (1889-1965) who was the founder of the successful Cunningham Drug Store chain (later sold to and helping to establish Shoppers Drug Mart). Mr. Cunningham was also, among his many accolades, City Councilor for the City of Vancouver from 1954 to 1957, a Member of the University of British Columbia Board of Governors from 1935 to 1965, and Chair of that Board from 1963 to 1965. Further important past occupants include, just prior to 1984, prominent and ground-breaking facial cosmetic surgeon, Dr. John Dmytryshyn (1942 - 2019) and his wife. The current owners have lived in the house the longest, having purchased it in 1984.

Additionally, the house is valued for its continued use as a single-family dwelling and for the way it contributes to the community's sense of identity by being a well-maintained historic building on a corner lot where it is highly visible to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the house include:

- Its location on the lot and its orientation to Matthews Avenue on a corner site
- The continued residential use as a single-family home
- The original form, scale and massing as expressed by its: 2 ½ storey height; side-oriented Saltbox roof with wide overhanging eaves; large, centred dormer on the front elevation; centred, open front porch with a set back front door and granite block columns; covered, closed porch on the side elevation
- Its Arts & Crafts Style design and architectural elements such as the: Horizontal profile; half-timbering in the gable ends; cladding of cedar wood shingles in a square butt pattern; corner flairs where the cedar shingles meet the granite foundation; granite block foundation; typical Arts & Crafts colour scheme with a pale body and brown trim.
- Location and fenestration pattern of window openings, all with the original glass, wood casings, wood frames, and protruding wood sills, including two small stained-glass windows, one on the south elevation and one on the east elevation and narrow side lights on either side of the front door