According to Vancouver historian James Johnstone, in the city’s early years Union Street in Strathcona was where staid West Siders went to get “liquored and laid.”

“It all happened on the East Side,” said Johnstone.

Johnstone is sharing some of his knowledge of what he calls Vancouver’s old East End in a self-guided tour, which this year is an add-on to the annual self-guided Vancouver Heritage Foundation Heritage House Tour. In an essay entitled Sex, Booze and Rock & Roll, included in the heritage house tour guidebook, Johnstone offers insight and scandalous gossip about the Union Street neighbourhood of days gone by. “At one time the street was so full of bootleggers and brothels the residents living on Union Street east of Vernon petitioned the city to allow them to change the name of the street,” said Johnstone. “That’s how Adanac Street came to be. It’s Canada spelled backwards.”

The homes on Johnstone’s self-guided walking tour, including the former residences of singer-songwriter K.D. Lang and former champion boxer Jimmy McLarnin, are not open to the public. But the nine homes included on the Heritage House Tour are, including two on Union Street, an Edwardian home on Pender Street and its accompanying laneway house, craftsman bungalows near Victoria Drive and a Tudor revival example on Connaught Drive.

Foundation program director Elana Zysblat explained that unlike past years, the 2011 tour has no unifying theme.

“Themes happen naturally,” said Zysblat. “For example we might find three or four houses on a transportation route, so that might the theme. This year it’s just some really great examples of traditional houses.”

Part of the tour is dubbed A Tale of Two Suburbs, detailed by artist and author Michael Kluckner in another essay included in the guidebook. The tour examines what was once the city’s most prestigious neighbourhood, Grandview along Victoria Drive, to what eventually became and remains the grandest—Shaughnessy Heights.

“During research regarding a large house on Semlin Drive, it was discovered Doug Bennett from Doug and the Slugs lived there in 1987 with his wife Nancy,” said Zysblat. “It’s a grand house with views and fireplaces all over. At one point the band painted the history of Canada in the dining room, so it’s of major interest.”

The self-guided Heritage House Tour takes place June 5 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rules to note before heading out include no food, pets, smoking, cellphones or children under six on the tour. Washrooms are not available in the tour homes and it’s advised participants wear shoes easy to slip off at the front door. There is a list of lunch options and washroom facilities included in the guidebook, which is a must to gain entrance to any home.

A pre-tour lecture, 125 Years of Vancouver Homes: from Green Wilderness to Green Metropolis with historian Bruce Macdonald, takes place May 25 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 2490 West 37th Ave.

For more information and tickets go to vancouverheritagefoundation.org or call 604-264-9642.

sthomas@vancourier.com

Twitter: @sthomas10