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Cherie Thiessen - Travel Writer |
| Getting the Details Right - Focus on Women |
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| text by Cherie Thiessen, photography by Tony Bounsall | ||
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Jennifer Barr's Arts and Craft Home |
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Sometimes a house is more than a home. For Jennifer and Colin Barr, the one and a half storey Craftsman bungalow is their hobby, their passion, their showpiece, and their child. And, like a well loved child, it exudes confidence, a sense of well being, and pride. In 1986, after looking for 8 months for a unique house to accommodate their special interests, the Barrs were delighted to finally find it. Since 1971, they had been hooked on the Arts and Crafts Movement and had become
avid collectors, so they required a house that would showcase their ceramics and metalwork, their books, their furniture and their prints. They also wanted room for
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their offices, and all this had to be found in a Craftsman house. It also had to be affordable, with a good layout and untouched Arts and Crafts woodwork. A tall order, and they were lucky to fill it in only eight months! Because the house was in North Park, the price was more affordable, and although they weren't thrilled with the stucco that had been plastered over the building's exterior in 1947, they felt they could live with that because the interior was perfect for their
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we asked city council to designate it as heritage. "We didn't want somebody else coming and destroying this house. It's worth keeping," Jennifer says. That's an understatement.
Jennifer is a Heritage Consultant and has been the Administrator of the Victoria Heritage Foundation since January, 1987. She has a diploma in Culture Resource Management from the University of Victoria, and her background is impressive. She's a dedicated and ardent heritage advocate, having served on the Hallmark Society Executive for eleven years before |
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