If More Walls Could Talk

Vancouver Island's Houses From the Past

By (author): Valerie Green
Illustrated by: Lynn Gordon-Findlay
ISBN 9781894898225
Softcover | Publication Date: April 1, 2004
Book Dimensions: 8.75 in x 8 in
176 Pages

About the Book

Valerie Green and Lynn Gordon-Findlay have put their ears to the walls of Vancouver Island’s historic homes and transcribed the whispered secrets of bygone days when folk of every description left their echoes in the buildings where they lived, worked, played, and died.

If the walls of a venerable mansion could speak, what stories would it tell? How about that rustic shack farther down the road?

In her first book, If These Walls Could Talk, Valerie Green explored 50 heritage homes in the Greater Victoria area. In this second volume, she ranges further afield, covering Greater Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island, Duncan and the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Courtney and District, and Campbell River and the North Island, including homes in Telegraph Cove and Port McNeill. Each home tells of a way of life long past, of people who dwelt within its walls, when and how it was built, or how it is historically significant. Once again, Valerie’s text is complemented by architectural artist Lynn Gordon-Findlay’s exquisite drawings.

About the Author(s)

Valerie Green was born and educated in England with a background in journalism, English literature and history. She has lived in Victoria, BC, since 1968, where she works as a freelance writer, writing the “Pages from the Past” column in the Saanich News as well as other magazine and newspaper articles. Valerie is the author of many historical books set in the Pacific Northwest, including family biographies and mystery-suspense fiction.

Lynn Gordon-Findlay is architect at de Hoog & Kierulf architects in Victoria. She works mainly in pencil, pen-and-ink, pastel and watercolor, and for several years, she provided illustrations for Valerie Green's newspaper columns on Victoria's heritage buildings.