For some while now, the Grandview Heritage Group has discussed the idea of placing celebratory signs on local houses and buildings that are 100 years old in a particular year. 1912 was an excellent year for buildings here and so we were keen to make sure the program kicked off this year. Therefore, we applied to the East Vancouver 2012 Neighbourhood Small Grants Project, funded by the Vancouver Foundation.
We want to thank the Foundation and everyone involved in the adjudication of these awards for approving our grant, and we look forward to writing more about this exciting project over the next few weeks.
If you live in, or know of, a house or building in Grandview that was built in 1912 and you would like to see it adorned with a Happy Birthday sign, please contact us as soon as possible.
grandviewheritagegroup.ca 
Can you provide some sources to check to determine the age of houses? Thanks – its a great idea!
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Some that come to mind are:
The Vancouver Building Permits Database (http://permits.heritagevancouver.org/) is a great resource (easiest to use if you have the full legal description of the property)
VanMap (http://vanmapp.vancouver.ca/pubvanmap_net/) which will give you the city’s best guess on date if you zoom in on the building.
You could also check your address against the City Directories (http://www.vpl.ca/bccd/index.php) for, say, 1910, 1911, 1912 and 1913 to see what they say of your address.
Hope that helps to get started.
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What a great idea! I’ve just sent an email requesting a birthday sign for our house.
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