Last week the Whistler Museum and the Point Artist-Run Centre hosted a film screening that featured 8mm film from our archives. The films, from the 1950s and ’60s, included snippets of sailing on Alta Lake, pie-eating contests at Cypress Lodge (today the Point), and even the 1958 hike where stew was burnt on Whistler Mountain, along with footage of a house under construction.
The house in question was built in September 1966 for Florence Strachan (Petersen). Florence first came to the Alta Lake area when she, June Tidball (Collins), Betty Atkinson (Gray), Jacquie Pope and Eunice “Kelly” Forster (Fairhurst) bought a cabin together in 1955. They named the cabin Witsend and would visit often throughout the summer. The following year, four of the five purchased the lot next door for $500. Over the following years, the other three sold their shares, leaving Florence as the sole owner of the lot.
Florence then decided to build a summer home overlooking Alta Lake, as she was still teaching full-time in Burnaby and spending her summers here. First, the lot had to be cleared, both of trees and, as can be seen in the 8mm footage, a couple of structures. The project was headed by Andy Petersen (who Florence married in 1967) and he was helped by Florence’s friends and family, who can be seen moving what appears to be an outhouse while wearing shorts and sandals. Once cleared, construction could begin on the house.
Florence ordered a prefabricated house designed by Greenall Bros. Ltd., who in the 1960s produced prefabricated structures, including houses, schools and construction camps. According to their advertisements in 1964, their buildings offered solid construction, good value, almost immediate occupancy, and “conventional appearance.”
Florence’s house arrived at Alta Lake in September 1966 with all of the pieces cut to size. Like the clearing of the lot, the house was constructed by friends and family under the supervision of Andy. While the construction was sound, some of the practices would not be accepted today, such as the group working on top of the roof with no harnesses or safety gear (including children).
While the house was considered “built” in 1966, according to Andy it took them 25 years to finish it. For the first year, the house was uninsulated and had no power, making it very cold and uncomfortable in the winter. The Petersens would come up to check on the house but it wasn’t until after they installed electric heating they started to visit more regularly throughout the year. Built on posts, Andy added a “proper foundation” and continued to work on the finishing touches.
In the spring of 1968, Andy moved up to live in the house full time as he and Dick Fairhurst of Cypress Lodge were constructing the Scotia Creek water line. Andy recalled that during this time, he accidentally put some holes in the roof while blasting the path for the line down to the house. He had to go down to Vancouver to get the tools and materials to fix the roof and, when Florence asked what he was doing home, told her, “Oh, well, I have to go and get some stuff, something broke.” According to Andy, “I didn’t say I blew the roof off the house!”
Florence moved up to join Andy in Whistler full-time after retiring from teaching in 1983. After Andy retired, having finally finished working on the house, he turned his attention to the garden, building three terraces between the road and the house. In 2006, Florence wrote that she and Andy “can’t imagine living anywhere else and never tire of the view across the lake.” The Petersens continued to live at the house until Florence’s death in 2011, after which Andy moved away from Whistler.
It is always exciting when we find archival films, like many of the films in the Petersen Collection, that give us a better view of stories told to us through letters, interviews and more. You can view some of the film that has been digitized online—check out the Whistler Museum YouTube channel to see more.
