The biggest problems with going to most museums, once you get power to the flux capacitor as soon as you hit 88 miles an hour, is everything is behind glass and if not so far away behind a red velvet rope holding back history like some kind of bouncer telling you that you aren’t on the VIP list. Do you know who doesn’t have history bouncers requiring you to use high powered binoculars just to catch a quick glimpse of our past?

Vancouver’s Roedde House Museum located at 1415 Barclay Street, is a historic attraction that wants you to get a tactile feel of our past. These aren’t massed produced items stamped out in endless lines from a soulless machine like most things today. No, when you touch these pieces of history you feel the craftmanship of history’s greatest artist working in condition that would make most cry. All while creating beautifully intricate pieces that have stood the test of time for us to continue to enjoy. With a few exceptions, especially delicate items that are only able to be viewed to keep them lasting for years to come.

Designed by Sir Francis Rattenbury the architect behind some of British Columbia’s most famous late 19th and early 20th century buildings. Roedde House is one of the architect’s earlier Canadian works. The Empress Hotel in Victoria, Vancouver’s former courthouse, now the Vancouver Art Gallery, one of his most well-known projects. Built in 1893, just seven years after Vancouver was officially founded, Roedde House is a late Victorian-era middle-class home built in the Queen Anne revival style. In the various rooms you’ll see clothing, fine China, turn-of-the-century furniture, and other artifacts such as photos of the Roedde family.

Roedde House was the home to a middle-class immigrant family from Germany. Gustav Roedde moved to the area and became the city’s first bookbinder. Gustav and Matilda Roedde with their family lived in the home from 1893 until 1925. Later the building became a rooming house then fell into disrepair before being restored. The City of Vancouver purchased the property in 1970, it has been a museum since 1990 with a small park next door.

The museum also hosts semi-regular concerts in the parlour. The last Sunday of each month is when you get a tour of the house and a cup of tea.  During the non-summer months, a once-a-month live performance take place indoors called Jazz Evenings in the Parlour. In June, July it hosts Summer Jazz on the Porch.

So, get ready you time traveling adventurer and get your hands on our history and make that physical connection to our past!

Brian Smith

bsmith288@my.bcit.ca