Jim Wolf

March 1 | 2-4pm
Useful Beauty, Samuel Maclure, and the Art & Craft of Architecture

William Morris famously said: “Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.” British Columbian architect Samuel Maclure made this principle come to life in a spectacular career that created some of Canada’s most treasured and influential residential designs between 1887 and 1929. During his life, he was lauded for both his designs that brought refined splendor to the homes of his wealthy society clientele. With offices in Vancouver and Victoria, the firm was sought after to create homes of sublime beauty incorporating the best local and international millwork, art glass, sculptured plaster, metal work, and wall decoration. Maclure’s designs allow us to revisit a time when the Arts and Crafts movement was at the height of its influence and to take pride in its local execution, which has left the legacy of many cherished landmarks that are part of our cultural heritage and a living gallery. 

About Jim Wolf

Jim Wolf is a historian and heritage conservation professional and lecturer who specializes in the architecture, architectural arts, and cultural history of British Columbia.  In 2021, after a forty-year career working in museums and as a heritage planner, he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Heritage BC. He has authored Royal City: A Photographic History of New Westminster; was a contributor to Building the West: The Early Architects of British Columbia (Donald Luxton editor); and (with Patricia Owen) wrote Yi Fao: Speaking through Memory, a History of New Westminster’s Chinese Community 1858–1980. In 2025, he completed “Craigdarroch Reconstructed: The Story of the Castle’s Design and Construction” in partnership with Victoria’s Craigdarroch Castle.

Image Credit: Jim Wolf, courtesy of Jennifer Gauthier/The Record.