University Women’s Club of Vancouver President Robin Halpern (left) and chair of the house furnishings committee Alix Bishop at the Hycroft mansion in September, 2025.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
Hycroft is considered Vancouver’s grandest mansion that is publicly accessible – an ivy-covered relic that, at one time, was the darling of Shaughnessy, where Great Gatsby-style parties drew wealthy people regularly.
In a neighbourhood where $30-million homes are not unusual, the 20,000-square-foot mansion at 1489 McRae Ave., was only lived in by one family, and it has survived only because it was taken over by the University Women’s Club of Vancouver, or UWCV, in 1962. Over the decades, faced with mounting property taxes, utility bills and maintenance costs, the Women’s Club has continued to run their clubhouse from the estate, which has sweeping views of the mountains from its north-facing terrace. They set up the Hycroft Heritage Preservation Foundation charity to raise funds for the preservation of the building, becoming pioneers for heritage preservation in Vancouver.
Now that authentic materials and heirlooms are becoming fashionable again, the appeal of all that history may just be what draws more women to join the long-standing club. It’s also a pretty special space to hang out. Members can work on their laptops inside the grand rooms, book meetings, take part in talks or charity events or happy hours.
The club, which has mostly operated under the radar, is actively seeking new members and UWCV president Robin Halpern clarifies that members do not have to be university-educated. Their membership is diverse, with women in their 20s on up, and from all backgrounds.
“We love the place, and we feel that we’re stewards of it,” said Ms. Halpern, who is a third-generation member. “It’s a beautiful heritage property, a gem in Vancouver.”
Hycroft, which is in the Italianate style, is one of the earliest and largest mansions in the First Shaughnessy subdivision, said heritage consultant Donald Luxton. “It was considered magnificent at the time.
“The stewardship of the UWCV has conserved the building as a unique example where a grand Edwardian era residence has been maintained in original condition – this was one of the earliest large-scale acts of heritage conservation in the city, and likely Western Canada.”
Mr. Luxton said it’s also one of the few Edwardian-era mansions accessible to the public, and the grandest. The fact that it’s still going, as a non-profit, is no small feat considering the First Shaughnessy area has seen so many of its heritage houses redeveloped into new multimillion-dollar faux-heritage homes over the past couple of decades.
Membership in the UWCV was at a high in 1984 with close to 1,100 members, but today membership has dwindled to around 300, says Alix Bishop, chair of the house furnishings committee. The pandemic, she said, was a setback.
At one time, they considered developing part of the gardens as infill housing, but the lack of parking and access would have made it impossible, said Ms. Bishop.
UWCV maintains Hycroft with fundraising efforts, including a Christmas fair, music and art shows, talks, weddings and more.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
They’ve kept going with dedicated fundraising efforts, including a popular Christmas fair, music and art shows, talks, weddings and other event rentals, movie location use, fashion shows and garden parties. On a recent tour for The Globe and Mail, a bride was having her photos taken in a massive light-filled room befitting a palace. A couple of women were seated at small tables by the window and quietly working in the oak-panelled room. The weekly order of fresh flowers for the foyer arrived. It’s an organized operation. But every club needs new members to keep the vision alive.
The Women’s Club started in 1907, with a mandate to seek equal opportunities for women’s education, workers’ rights and child welfare, but for decades the group didn’t have a proper meeting place. The mansion was built between 1909 and 1912 for Gen. Alexander McRae and his American wife, Blaunche. They raised three daughters on the five-acre estate, and after Blaunche died in 1942, Mr. McRae, who was also a senator, auctioned off the contents and donated his estate to the government for use as a veterans’ hospital. But by 1960, the veterans were relocated to the newly built Shaughnessy Hospital and Hycroft sat empty, the buildings neglected, the Italianate gardens overgrown. The government wanted $70,500 for the five-acre McRae property, but ultimately agreed to subdivide it, which enabled the women to purchase the house, stables, coach house and surrounding gardens at a purchase price of $30,500. The three lots to the east were eventually sold off to an architect who designed nine luxury two-storey townhouses called McRae Mews, which are still standing today.
The Women’s Club still owns a couple of properties to the south, including rental apartments, which are tenanted.
UWCV bought the property in 1962 for $30,500, and later restored the manor.Jennifer Gauthier/The Globe and Mail
Back in the early 1960s, the residence needed a ton of work, and the ladies were up for it. The hospital had covered its wood floors in linoleum and removed the original light fixtures, so it all needed to be restored. It’s surprising how much of the original house remains, including extensive stained-glass walls and even a ceiling, imported state-of-the art showers and original bathroom fixtures, original tile work, 13 fireplaces, elaborate ceiling and wall mouldings – and even Ms. McRae’s carefully preserved needlework on the heavy curtains.
“The ladies were down here in their beautiful cashmere sweaters, and their pearls, and their expensive skirts, and their black pumps, and they’re scraping paint off the stairs,” said Ms. Bishop, who has the old photos to show for it.
In the garden, there’s a giant sequoia tree that Mr. McRae had hauled in and planted. There are two statues of lions, smaller replicas of the lions at Lions Gate Bridge, by the same sculptor, Charles Marega, who also sculpted one of the fireplaces.
Ms. Bishop points to Gen. McRae’s chair, in a room with a white Carrera fireplace imported from Italy. There’s another fireplace they believe came from a castle in Austria. The McRaes used to go on shopping sprees to Europe, she explains.
Many pieces that had been auctioned off decades ago have found their way back, the owners deciding they belong with Hycroft. Others have been donated and some inherited.
“Like I said, we feel like we’re the stewards of it,” said Ms. Halpern.
And now, they just need to grow that next generation of stewards.