Touchwood in the Radio

Touchwood will be featured in the CBC Radio One show, "To Be Continued...." on Easter Monday at noon in each timezone across Canada and streamed over the internet at cbc.ca, click radio then listen

Touchwood History to be featured on CBC Radio

Yesterday morning, Jenny and I were interviewed by Alan Neal of CBC Radio Ottawa. The interview will be broadcast sometime over the Easter weekend. We'll post more details once we know

Legacy: The Hollywood Bathroom

What's the best way to honour Touchwood's connection to the actors?

Create the Hollywood Bathroom, of course!

Vancouver Legacy: Studio 58 Good Vibes

Their theatrical legacy continues in their old Vancouver neighbourhood, as one of Canada’s leading theatre and film acting and production programs, Studio 58, is based at Langara College, located directly across Ontario Street from Fay and David’s old home.

David Clyde Movies

Actor (88 titles from the Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com )

1946 Devotion
Land Agent (uncredited)

1946 Two Years Before the Mast
Butler (uncredited)

1945 The Lost Weekend
Dave - Janitor (uncredited)

1945 Love Letters
Postman (uncredited)

1945 Molly and Me
Angus - Gardener (uncredited)

1945 The Unseen
Drunk (uncredited)

1945 Salty O'Rourke
Square MacPherson (uncredited)

1945 The House of Fear
Alex MacGregor

1945 Tonight and Every Night
Police Sergeant (uncredited)

1945 Molly, Bless Her

1944 Enter Arsene Lupin
Bobby (uncredited)

1944 None But the Lonely Heart
Policeman with Stripes (uncredited)

1944 Ministry of Fear
English Bobby (uncredited)

1944 Bonnie Lassie (short)
Mr. MacGregor

1944 Frenchman's Creek
Martin - Coachman (uncredited)

1944 The Scarlet Claw
Police Sergeant Thompson

1944 The Hour Before the Dawn
Farmer (uncredited)

1944 The Uninvited
Ben - Boat Owner (uncredited)

1944 The Lodger
Sergeant Bates

1943 Jane Eyre
Guard on Coach from Lowood (uncredited)

1943 Princess O'Rourke
Gray - Butler (uncredited)

1943 Good Luck, Mr. Yates
Angus (uncredited)

1943 The Constant Nymph
Florist (uncredited)

1943 Two Tickets to London
Capt. Hawkins (uncredited)

1943 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Llanwelly Police Sergeant (uncredited)

1943 The Mysterious Doctor
Tom Andrews (uncredited)

1942 Random Harvest
Lodgekeeper at Random Hall (uncredited)

1942 Nightmare
Jock

1942 Now, Voyager
William (uncredited)

1942 The Gay Sisters
Benson

1942 Eagle Squadron
Fire Warden (uncredited)

1942 Mrs. Miniver
Carruthers (uncredited)

1942 The Great Man's Lady
Bartender (uncredited)

1942 Reap the Wild Wind
Old Director (uncredited)

1942 Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
Shellback (uncredited)

1941 H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Hugh, the Butler
1941 Suspicion
Trunk Man (uncredited)

1941 Smilin' Through
Sexton

1941 The Feminine Touch
Brighton, Elliot's Butler

1941 They Met in Bombay
Sergeant on Sidewalk (uncredited)

1941 Blossoms in the Dust
Frederick, Kahly's Butler (uncredited)

1941 One Night in Lisbon
Cab Driver (uncredited)

1941 Rage in Heaven
Worker's Delegate #2 (uncredited)

1940 The Philadelphia Story
Mac (uncredited)

1940 South of Suez
Detective Sergeant in Thornton's Office (uncredited)

1940 A Dispatch from Reuter's
Constable (uncredited)

1940 Waterloo Bridge
Barnes - Cronin's Butler (uncredited)

1940 My Son, My Son!
Drayman

1940 Adventure in Diamonds
Bartender

1940 I Take This Woman
Ship Steward (uncredited)

1940 The Earl of Chicago
Hanger-on (uncredited)

1939 We Are Not Alone
Ticket Collector (uncredited)

1939 Rulers of the Sea
Second Mate Evans

1939 Death of a Champion
Angus McTavish

1939 Captain Fury
Cook (uncredited)

1939 Union Pacific
Irishman (uncredited)

1939 Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police
Constable Jenkins

1939 Arrest Bulldog Drummond
Constable McThane

1938 If I Were King
First Officer (uncredited)

1938 Kidnapped
Blacksmith

1938 Bulldog Drummond's Peril
Constable McThane

1937 Lancer Spy
Orderly (uncredited)

1937 Love Under Fire
McWhirter (uncredited)

1937 Souls at Sea
Butler (uncredited)

1937 Wee Willie Winkie
Card Playing Soldier (uncredited)

1937 Another Dawn
Campbell (uncredited)

1937 Bulldog Drummond Escapes
Gower

1937 Lost Horizon
Embassy Club Steward (uncredited)

1937 You Only Live Once
Fireman (uncredited)

1936 The Plainsman
Miner #2 (uncredited)

1936 Fury and the Woman
McCrae

1936 A Son Comes Home
Scottish Sailor (uncredited)

1936 Mary of Scotland (uncredited)

1936 Suzy
'Knobby'

1936 The Princess Comes Across
Assistant Purser (uncredited)

1936 The Girl from Mandalay
Malone

1936 A Message to Garcia
Tevis (uncredited)

1936 The Lady Consents
Engineer McGregor (uncredited)

1936 Rose-Marie
Doorman (uncredited)

1935 The Perfect Gentleman
Morse (uncredited)

1935 Atlantic Adventure
Fisher (uncredited)

1935 Bonnie Scotland
Highland Quartette Member (uncredited)

1935 Man on the Flying Trapeze
J. Farnsworth Wallaby (uncredited)

1935 Hard Rock Harrigan
McNally

1935 Love Me Forever
Hank (uncredited)

1935 Cardinal Richelieu
Innkeeper

1935 Eight Bells
MacIntyre

1934 Molly and Me

Fay Holden Movies

Here is a list of Fay's Movies from the internet movie database www.imdb.com:

1958 Andy Hardy Comes Home
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1956 The Ford Television Theatre (TV series)
Bess Palmer
– Mr. Kagle and the Baby Sitter (1956) … Bess Palmer

1950 The Big Hangover
Martha Belney (playing Elizabth Taylor's character's mother)

1949 Samson and Delilah
Hazelelponit

1948 Whispering Smith
Emmy Dansing

1946 Love Laughs at Andy Hardy
Mrs. Hardy

1946 Little Miss Big
Mary Jane Baxter

1946 Canyon Passage
Mrs. Overmire

1944 Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1942 Andy Hardy's Double Life
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1942 The Courtship of Andy Hardy
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1941 H.M. Pulham, Esq.
Mrs. John Pulham

1941 Life Begins for Andy Hardy
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1941 Blossoms in the Dust
Mrs. Kahly

1941 I'll Wait for You
Mrs. Miller

1941 Ziegfeld Girl
Mrs. Regan

1941 Washington Melodrama
Mrs. Elizabeth Claymore

1941 The Penalty (scenes deleted)

1941 Andy Hardy's Private Secretary
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1940 Bitter Sweet
Mrs. Millick

1940 Andy Hardy Meets Debutante
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1939 Judge Hardy and Son
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1939 Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever
Mrs. Emily 'Emmy' Hardy

1939 The Hardys Ride High
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1939 Sergeant Madden
Mary Madden

1939 Loews Christmas Greeting (The Hardy Family) (short)
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1938 Sweethearts
Hannah

1938 Out West with the Hardys
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1938 Love Finds Andy Hardy
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1938 Hold That Kiss
Mrs. Emily Evans

1938 Test Pilot
Saleslady (uncredited)

1938 Judge Hardy's Children
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1938 Love Is a Headache
Mary, Peter's Secretary

1937 You're Only Young Once
Mrs. Emily Hardy

1937 Double or Nothing
Martha Sewell Clark

1937 Souls at Sea
Mrs. Martin (uncredited)

1937 Exclusive
Mrs. Swain

1937 King of Gamblers
Nurse

1937 Bulldog Drummond Escapes
Natalie

1937 Internes Can't Take Money
Mother Teresa

1937 Guns of the Pecos
Aunt Carrie Burton (as Gaby Fay)

1936 The Accusing Finger
Little Old Lady (uncredited)

1936 Polo Joe
Aunt Minnie

1936 Wives Never Know
Mrs. Gossamer

1936 The White Angel
Queen Victoria (uncredited)

1936 I Married a Doctor
Ella Stowbody (as Gaby Fay)

1935 The Pace That Kills
Madame/Henchwoman (as Gaby Fay - hard to imagine Fay as a henchwoman)

Hollywood North

In addition to their theatrical success with the British Guild Players, David and Fay were at the vanguard of Vancouver being known as “Hollywood North” by also working regularly in the film industry and in Hollywood itself from the mid-1930s onwards, appearing in over 120 movies.

David Clyde appeared in the musical Rose-Marie, the first full-length talkie filmed in Vancouver. He was the son of John Clyde, Scotland’s first film star and his brother Andy was a member of Mack Sennett’s acting team and featured in Hopalong Cassidy films popular at the time.

Fay Holden found fame playing Mickey Rooney’s mother in the Andy Hardy films.

Their extensive credits include some of the highest profile Oscar winning movies of their day: “The Philadelphia Story”, “Mrs. Miniver”, “Now Voyager”, “You Can’t Take It With You”, and they appeared with stars such as: W.C. Fields, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Greer Garson, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, David Niven and James Stewart.

Touchwood: Insulated with 1930s Theatre Posters

David and Fay lived in East Vancouver near Main Street, and insulated their home with theatre posters, which were not discovered again for more than 50 years. They ran the theatre company from 1929 to 1938 before permanently moving to Hollywood, as their film careers were becoming more demanding. The Empress Theatre itself was dismantled in 1940.




Touchwood was not only insulated with old theatre posters but also with the posters advertising the candies that would have been sold at the Empress Theatre. These posters advertise products such as Moonlight Mellos, Wildfire, Patterkrisp and the Toronto Nut Bar (many jokes to be made there) that were all made by the Patterson Chocolate Company of Toronto. The Pattersons factory on Queen Street in Toronto still stands but has been converted into apartments called the Chocolate Company lofts

On the 1929 opening night of their first Vancouver show, telegrams of congratulations were received from key figures of the era, such as Laurel and Hardy, and J.M. Barrie. The productions proved to be big hits, attracting mass audiences at the same time that talking pictures were revolutionizing cinema and Vancouverites were seeking an escape from the post-Wall Street crash and the subsequent Depression.

A 1933 Vancouver Sun article on the Empress notes that, between the stage hands, electricians, designers and actors, the Empress Theatre had a payroll of $1,500 a week, which qualified it as a significant employer in Vancouver. The British Guild Players’ Vancouver productions were usually frothy comedies that had been hits in London and Broadway including:

The Bachelor Father
Parlour Bedroom and Bath
The Plays The Thing
The Adventurous Age
Innocent Ann
Tomorrow And Tomorrow
Easy Come Easy Go
A Cuckoo In The Nest
Are You A Mason
When Knights Were Bold
Peter Pan
Rip Vancouver Winkle
Bunty Pulls The Strings
Almost a Honeymoon
A Damsel In Distress
Nancy’s Private Affair
The Man In Possession
Little Bit Of Fluff
The Sport Of Kings
That’s Gratitude

Fay Holden and David Clyde History

David Clyde Born: March 27, 1885 in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland.
Died: May 17, 1945 (age 60) in San Fernando Valley, California, USA

Fay Holden Born: Dorothy Fay Hammerton September 26, 1893 in Birmingham, England
Died: June 23, 1973 (age 79) in Los Angeles, California, USA

They were married in 1914. After a successful career on the stage in Scotland and England in the early 1920s with the Garrick Theatre players, Fay (then known as Gaby Fay) and David acted in Boston and in New York, on Broadway, between 1925 and 1928.

In 1929, in partnership with playwright and actor Norman Cannon, with whom they had acted in Boston, they moved to Vancouver, bought and refurbished the Empress Theatre and launched the British Guild Players. The British Guild Players featured many high profile actors such as Dorothy Somerset, who initiated the UBC Theatre program, Sidney Risk, who created the Everyman Theatre in the 1940s, and such stars of the period as Basil Radford.

British Guild Players

Vancouver’s leading professional theatre company pre-WWII was the British Guild Players. Their productions were all performed at the Empress Theatre, which stood at the corner of Hastings and Gore Streets, and was the largest stage west of Chicago at the time. The leaders of the company were the husband and wife team of David Clyde and Dorothy Hammerton, who became better known as Fay Holden. They owned our house from April 11, 1930 to March 28, 1938

Touchwood History: Those Hollywood People

Over the years we have delved into the history of Touchwood, notably its role in the 1930s as the home of the Vancouver's most prominent professional theatre company and the evolution of the city as "Hollywood North".

We thought it worth posting what we have found out to date so there is a public record

the Big Reveal - at last!

Sorry about that. No really, sorry for the delay. We got a little swept up in the Games. Perhaps you know of them? They come along every four years and this year they were here in our city. We attended seven Olympic Winter Games events: women's hockey, men's hockey (2), curling, long track speed skating and figure skating practice (women's and dance) and a victory ceremony (got to sing our national anthem thanks to gold medal won that day). I was lucky enough to perform in both the Opening and Closing ceremonies so also had quite a few rehearsals to attend. We wandered with the hordes of happy people mingling in downtown Vancouver one day and spent two nights partying in pavilion pubs. Our bodies ache. Our throats are raw. Our ears still ring.

But how better to alleviate post-event depression than in a newly renovated space!

And here it is, room by room:

Mud room/entry way:

Looking into the new office from the mud room:

The office area:

The workroom and bar kitchen:

The fireplace and media wall:

The bathroom:

The laundry and storage area:

New stairway:

Even the mechanical room looks good:

7 months of toil. 4,352 decisions made (more or less). 30% over budget (well over six figures). House remortgaged. Office desks and work table purchases on hold. Several sleepless nights.

Having it all done to our complete satisfaction: Priceless.

And now to work!

hang in there!

No, we have not forsaken ye.

But - the cabinet maker had to bring some missing selves and shelf supports (half of those still to come). Then, when we removed the floor protection and cleaned the floor checking for damage we found lots of marks that may or may not be damage to the finish, so we have to get the flooring guy in to take a look. And, the baseboards had to be touched up after the flooring protection was removed and all was cleaned, so that's been going on, as have the last touch-ups to walls and lintels.

When it's really done and worthy of your viewing, it will be so!

So go out for a walk, make yourself a cup of tea or write a novella. It really won't be long now, I promise!

teaser

Well, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the flowers are thrusting ever upwards (no kidding - we have snowdrops, crocuses, viburnum and hellebores out there blooming right now!) and the floor covering is coming off. The boys of winter are here for their (hopefully) last day of bits and pieces: affixing a towel bar here, repairing damaged plaster around an electric outlet there, caulking ouside, sanding inside.

We will have to clean and inspect the floors for damage, then touch up the baseboard paintwork. The electrician has one more task and the cabinet maker still has shelving to deliver, which in turn needs to be painted, but in essence we are staring this beast down to its knees.

Before the big reveal, here are a few images in preparation.

a hat trick of inspectors

I am intrigued by the role of city inspectors. I am sure there is a lot of training and know there are specific rules that must be followed, but there also seems to be a honking big gap between what must be done and what an individual inspector will allow or not.

For example, the plumbing inspector for our area came out when we realized we have to do the drain tile. He looked at our existing sump, a small cuve of which sneaked under the fence onto the neighbour's property. The location of the sump was non-conforming, but had been there probably for 80 years, certainly before the next door property was partitioned from this one and the house built on it, so the inspector said it was grandfathered and okay to leave in place.

The drantile was finished and the final inspection booked. That first inspector was on holiday so another one came out and said he wouldn't pass it until we dug in a new sump in a different location. Of course work had been done in good faith based on the first inspection and so it was frustrating that a second guy could just change everything because he wanted to, causing more work and more cost to a project that was otherwise done. Obviously not used to anyone asking a question about the seemingly arbitrary nature of inspections and on what decisions like this were based the guy shrugged and indicated it was up to each inspector and what they say goes regardless of what another says. When asked if there had been something missed before, or something missed now (he hadn't actually looked at the previous inspection notice, he said testily "We're human, or don't you get that?"

!!!?!!!

Attitude is obviously a part of some inspectors' creed!

It boggled us and the contractor who was there. If either of us had made such an about face, affecting a client's position, there'd be some protocol, some form of accountability to justify it. City inspectors rule their small roost, and some of them have a common sense approach (being safe and to code is the important thing, and no house is the same as another) and others have a lord of the kingdom approached (you must follow whichever set of rules I decide are to be followed regardless of how reasonable or not it may seem to you o lowly houseowner).

Take the electrical inspector. His final inspection picked two things that weren't really that big a deal, but had elements of safety. The smoke detector was to be changed to a CO2 detector and one of the outlets in the bar area needed to be a GFI even though it's not that close to water. A little persnickety but totally justifiable. Work was done, he came back to check only those two things, and the inspection passed.

Yesterday was the final inspection. We've done everything asked of us, and it's all to code, but this is still a basement in an old house and an inspector with a chip on his or her shoulder could have probably found something. Many make the assumption that a suite is being put in, and the fact that we have a bathroom and a bar kitchen might make some inspectors leap to that concluson. The fact that a suite is not being put in, and will not be as long as we own the house and continue to run our office downstairs, may not mean anything to an inspector with attitude. The inspector arrived, walked around a bit, checked the mechanical room, the shower, and the height of the office space, then took her copy of the insulation forms and signed off. That's it. Job done.

After 6 months of slogging work it felt a little anti-climatic to have 5 minutes and a dashed off signature. But it also felt so good!

as fun as....

There hasn't been a blog entry for awhile I know. It's not that nothing's being done downstairs - oh no, on the contrary, it's been full on. We've spent hours and hours, day and evening, weekday and weekend, working throughout the whole space.

The reason for not adding an entry on what exactly we've been doing is - well - put it this way. What would you say this is?
It is paint.



And what do you think it is doing?




It is drying.




And how exciting is that to write about let alone read about?

Not very.

'Nuff said.

Back to it!

giddy-up

A pony wall is a low wall used to segregate different areas in a room. They are great for large rooms that need some definition, like living rooms or dining rooms that extend into the kitchen. They are also great for hiding the end seam of a laminate countertop and the side of an appliance at the other end of a corridorr, which is what we need it for.


Eric drew us a great design idea, Marek/Tim took the ball and ran with it and made a lovely fir pony wall, with a moderately elaborate cap and a shaker profile that will coordinate with the cabinet doors. It makes looking down the hall at a piece of wall a joy to behold. Giddy-up little pony!

storage cabinets

We ordered plain melamine shelving for our large, walk-in storage cabinets, but somehow the memo did not get down to the guy to actually made them over the Christmas break. This morning in walked several, fully formed, beautifully made and goegous birch wooden shelving boxes. Whoops! Not our error for once thankfully, and these are so very much nicer! Can't wait to put our tubs of camping gear and old tax forms and holiday ornaments on and under them!

Left hand cabinets:

at framing stage

at gyproc stage

at cabinetry stage

Right hand cabinets:

at framing stage

at gyproc stage

at cabinetry stage

possession is nine-tenths

Our applainces were delivered today!

We have an upright Frigidaire freezer, a small Danby bar fridge, and a Pansonic microwave oven,

and a beautiful Samsung washer and steam dryer in graphite grey.

However, having laundry machines is not the same as being able to do the laundry.

You're going to have to wear those shorts and socks another couple of days dear!