The humble history of Vancouver’s last waterfront cottage

In the fall of 1925, Arthur Beakes built a small house near the foot of Alma Street at Point Grey Road.

Ninety-eight years later, it’s still there, the last waterfront cottage in the city of Vancouver.

The lot was sold for $4 million in 2021, and the new owners want to build a new home there. The 650-square-foot cottage will have to be moved, or will be torn down.

The structure is across the street from a park that is home to Vancouver’s oldest building, the Hastings Mill store. That 1865 building was barged to 1575 Alma on July 29, 1930 and reopened as the Hastings Mill Museum on Jan. 16, 1932.

The grandson of Arthur Beakes hopes the cottage can be moved next to the museum.