What more could you ask for? A decade of detours with Wong II House

I first saw Wong II House about 10 years ago. A friend had told me about this house they liked up near Queen Elizabeth Park. He couldn't remember the streets, but he said to drive up behind the park and you'll find it. Making my way up the hill and around the back of the park past the pitch and putt and tennis courts, I found it just to the West. I wouldn't need to confirm with my friend if this was the house he spoke of; I knew right away. The house had seen better days, but I could instantly tell that it was something special. Certain houses have a special quality that you can't even put into words, but they have you coming back and looking at them in a new light every time, seeing something you hadn't seen before. This house has that quality. Its yellow, brown, and teal paint scheme, and an open-air carport with a wall of windows above. It is a relatively modest design, almost Neutra-esque in its linearity and use of glass. A simple home for a family next to the park—what more could you ask for?

Even back then, I knew the house's days were numbered. It sits on a large lot directly across from the park and beside two other houses that, by today's standards, would be considered too small for the land they inhabit. McMansion or land assembly would be the fate this house meets, I thought to myself. As for when, it was hard to say, but I knew it was inevitable. I would visit the house whenever I found myself by the park. A quick detour to see how it was doing and to see if there was a dreaded for sale sign or rezoning application on the lawn. Years went by, and it remained relatively unchanged except for the paint continuing to peel and its yellow and teal hues dulling with age. The yard is growing, slowly taking over the plot of land and almost the house itself, but the house is still there, and that was all that mattered to me—a remnant of Vancouver modernism for people to see and study.

In early 2022, what I had always known would happen occurred. A rezoning sign appeared on the adjacent lot, detailing the future for that home but also its neighbours; a new apartment complex would be taking their place. The time had come for one of my favourite houses. I'm not naive; I know we need housing, I know how valuable the land is, and I know not every house can be saved or even should be, but it pains me nonetheless. Just a few blocks away sits The Smith Residence from 1949 by Sharp and Thompson, Berwick, Pratt all boarded up waiting for the bulldozer, a fate that will soon meet Wong II as well. Vancouver is a city that loves erasing its architectural past, and these two houses will be added to the hundreds more that are no longer with us.

If there is a silver lining to this story, it is that just a ways down the street sits another house that shares the same name, The Wong House. Yes, there are two Wong residences along the Cambie corridor. They are related by blood but also by architecture. The Wong Residence was designed by architect Harry Lee while he was at Duncan S. McNab's firm, while Wong II House was designed by McNab himself. The Wong Residence, with its landscaping design by Cornelia Hahn Oberlander, will not meet the same fate as number 2. With its association with philanthropist Milton Wong and architect Harry Lee, both the house and its landscape are on the Heritage Register of Vancouver. Purchased by Pennyfarthing Homes, the house was incorporated into a large new housing development but was left untouched. Next time you head up Cambie, take a look to your left just before 35th Avenue and you'll see it peeking above the large volcanic rock that makes up its front yard.

I'm going to miss my detours to check on Wong II House once it's gone. They were a fun diversion from whatever else I had going on in that moment, taking a minute to admire and imagine what once was. I've never been inside the house, and in a way, I'm kind of glad I haven't. It is this mystery that adds to my love of the house. I will have to find a new house to use as an excuse to detour my day, and that's ok; it's good to change up your routine, and besides, there are a few I already have my eye on.