ONCE UPON A TIME IN GIBSONS The Town of Gibsons Heritage ...

OLAFSEN RESIDENCE
(formerly The Manse or Parsonage)
607 Seaview Road (Lot 23, BL2, BL K&L, DL688, Gp 1 PL4028)
Constructed: 1914-15
Type of construction: frame with 12’ studs, 9’ ceilings, gable roof
Original owner: Methodist Church of Canada
Reason for inclusion:
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, ARCHITECTURAL INTEREST
The Methodist Church was an important part of the community from 1895 until 1925 (when it was
incorporated into the United Church of Canada).
The fi rst Manse was built in 1900 at the corner of North Road and Sechelt Highway (now known
as Gibsons Way) on the site of the present Heritage Playhouse. At that time, Methodist services
were held in the schoolhouse across the street - the congregation having outgrown their original
meeting place in George and Charlotte Gibson’s living room.
The Methodist Church was built in 1910 following Charlotte Gibson’s death, on land donated by
George Gibson (on the site of the present Visitor Info Centre adjacent to Pioneer Park). In 1913
Mr. Grantham donated the land on Seaview Road on which the Manse was constructed, and under
the stewardship of Rev. Robert C. Scott volunteers cleared the site that winter. In 1914 construction
began, with the building shell completed early in 1915. (Title for the property did not actually
change hands until 1932.)
The building’s was occupied 1915-1917 by Rev. J.S. Woodsworth and his family, until the pacifi st
Woodsworth resigned his position in protest against the Methodist Church’s pro-war stance. J.S.
Woodsworth went on to found the Canadian Cooperative Federation (CCF) party, the forerunner to
the present New Democratic Party, and is widely regarded as the father of the democratic socialist
movement in Canada.
Currently the building is occupied by singer/songwriter Lawry Olafsen and family. It has recently
been renovated and a small shed on the property has been converted to a recording studio.
Gibsons Heritage Inventory and Register 63
photo by Going Coastal Communications Group, 2003