J.W. Horne Block (Vancouver) | commercial, heritage, flatiron building

 commercial, heritage, flatiron building

The J.W. Horne Block is a three storey plus lower level masonry Victorian Italianate residential building. It is located at the convergence of West Cordova Street and a back alley, in the historic district of Gastown. Together with the adjacent Springer and Van Bramer Block, it forms a contiguous unit that fills a wedge-shaped lot where the city's early surveys meet at an acute angle.

The J.W. Horne Block is significant for its association with real estate developer and Alderman James W. Horne, who owned more land in the area than any single other person, second only to the CPR. Built in 1889, the J.W. Horne Block is significant as one of the earliest brick buildings constructed in Gastown after the Great Fire in 1886. The triangular form of the building, which gives it landmark status, was dictated by the convergence of the original 1870 Granville Townsite survey and the CPR's 1885 grid plan survey to the south.