Feb. 19 to 25 is B.C. Heritage Week and “Heritage stands the test of time” is the theme. A building that has stood the test of time for 82 years is Rockwood Lodge, located on Shorncliffe Avenue at the west end of Cowrie Street in Sechelt.
It is a fine example of a craftsman style building with board and batten and shingle siding and is Sechelt’s only designated heritage building.
A photograph of Rockwood Lodge taken in the late 1930s shows a small building on the left that housed canaries given to the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Youngson, by Major Sutherland, Sechelt’s first policeman and original owner of the Wakefield House.
Rockwood Lodge, built in 1935-1936 by Scottish immigrants Bill and Jessie Youngson, provided rooms and meals to vacationers, hydro and highway crews, teachers, policemen and many government officials, including our present prime minister’s grandfather, James Sinclair, who was a federal Liberal MP for a number of years. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mother and father, Margaret and Pierre, visited the Youngsons after they sold Rockwood Lodge and moved into their cottage on its grounds. The Youngsons ran the Lodge successfully for 10 years until 1948.
The property changed hands several times over the next 30 years, continuing to be a guesthouse until 1969 when it was converted into a private residence. Over the years, there have been a number of reports of sounds and sightings of one of the early female owners, now a friendly ghost.
The Sechelt Chamber of Commerce bought the Lodge in 1980, made necessary repairs and renovations and had the Lodge declared a heritage building. After renting it to the Katimavic organization for a year, the Chamber took it over and opened a tearoom/craft shop in June 1982. The remodeled garage building became a tourist information centre and is now the home of the Festival of the Written Arts, which has run a very successful festival every August for over 30 years.
In 1984 the building was leased to be used as a European-style health spa with mud baths in the basement and newly built additional accommodation in the grounds. This business lasted only two years and in 1986 the District of Sechelt assumed the mortgage. Local visionaries petitioned the district to use the Lodge as a community facility for promoting arts, culture, recreation and learning to be run by the Suncoast Rockwood Society. After 10 years the Society was dissolved and the District of Sechelt took over the management of the Rockwood Centre, continuing to run it as a community cultural centre. Currently the district is having the basement level of the Lodge renovated.
Rockwood Lodge with its beautiful gardens, historic ambience, proximity to the sea and many outdoor activities has certainly stood the test of time.
– Submitted by Ann Watson, archivist, with thanks to Joan Graham, Rockwood Centre facility booking manager, for additional information.
