This lovingly preserved, historic Victorian home belonged to Vancouver's first book-binder and is such a hidden gem! The house itself is worth a look with its beautiful architecture - but it's also full of interesting pieces of Canadian history and Roedde family artifacts. You can do a self guided tour - but we opted for the guided tour just for funsies and I'm so glad we did bc we learned a lot I feel like we may have missed just browsing on our own - such as the scandalous story of the home's architect! The house was built in 1893 by British architect Francis Rattenbury - and his story itself was pretty fascinating - a scandalous divorce from his first wife and he was eventually murdered by his second wife's lover! Drama drama :-o The docent also showed us a really neat "Domestic Science Diploma" of one of the family - it even had grades for "cookery" and "housewifery" - I had no idea they even had diplomas like that back then! The pace of our cultural change never ceases to amaze me. They also had a really lovely exhibit featuring renowned Canadian poet Pauline Johnson - whose father was a hereditary Mohawk chief! The house is very well curated and the docents are very knowledgeable. I especially loved how the house really immerses you in the life of the era - one of my fave things was all the Victorian dresses on display! So this museum might seem small but there's a lot to unpack here if you have the time. Their opening hours are limited and seasonal but accurate on their website. The whole neighborhood is historic and very walkable. I regret we didn't have enough time to thoroughly explore! The price is extremely reasonable- it's $10CAD which is just over $7USD at the time of this writing. Parking is limited and street parking in the neighborhood- but we just walked from our hotel easily. read more

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Wonderful little jewel of a museum. The house is full of period furniture and they give tours and have teas on the weekends. Very reasonable price for touring the house. I love little museums like this. The docents are so helpful and are passionate about the preservation of the house. read more

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excellent tour yesterday Stacy our tour guide was great. beautiful house and info about the family and life at that time in vancouver

One of our most enjoyable stops in Vancouver. The Roedde House is full of historic details and an important part of the history of this city. Our docent Gerry was so knowledgeable and passionate about the life and times of the people. We recommend this historic gem highly! read more

Roedde House Museum - Gerry and the B crew - Museums Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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We were so excited to finally come to the museum. This museum is a staple in the West End. I have seen weddings at the gazebo and have always wondered what it looked like inside. Cons: We bought tickets, online, for Sunday, March 13 from 1:00 to 2:00pm. We rushed to get there on time, arriving at 1:00, rang the bell, and waited. When a worker finally opened the door, she informed us that doors opened at 1:00 and that we needed to wait till then. I let her know it was past 1:00 and, surprised, told us to wait because she needed time to set up. During our visit, we were unable to use the audio guided tour because she was unable to set it up for us. She told us she needed to wait for her manager and would figure it out. We never did get a chance to use the audio and were disappointed. Pros: The house itself is lovely and very historical. A lot of actual facts and care went into the house. The details are very unique and I was in awe how beautiful it was. read more

The Roedde House Museum, located in the West End on Barclay Street, is a restored heritage house originally built in 1893, which belonged to the Roedde family. I've lived in Vancouver all my life, but I hadn't even heard of the Roedde House Museum until a few years ago, when I received the Inspiration Pass from the library. However, due to the limited hours of operation, I wasn't able to visit the museum when I had the pass. But on the Victoria Day long weekend, my friend and I were able to visit and get in for free, as she was participating in the Tourism Challenge (http://www.vancouverattractions.com/tourismchallenge). The Roedde House Museum depicts artifacts belonging the Roedde family, and what life was like at the turn of the century. It's an interesting little place to visit, and you don't need more than an hour to look around. The artifacts that my friend and I found particularly interesting were the "Domestic Science Diploma" and "Florence Nightingale Pledge". Things sure have changed in the past 100 years! [Yelp collections: Museums and Art Galleries; Being a tourist in my own city; Cheap Thrills] read more

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What a lovely place to visit. This museum is run by a neighbourhood organization, so it's people that are passionate about preserving the history of the area. What's unique is that almost every item in the house can be touched or picked up to inspect, nothing fenced off. This made the visit a lot more personal. The guide was very knowledgeable and friendly. If you have some time to spare and want to learn about a corner of Vancouver from the past, I highly recommend it. read more

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Wow! Such a great museum with wonderful volunteers! I walked by this beautiful house a few months ago and was very intrigued by its character, condition and beauty. I was inspired to lead a group of girl guides here for our evening meeting (set up well in advance) and was absolutely blown away. Our volunteer (Mrs.McPherson) completely made the entire experience amazing, interactive and informative for our girls. We were there just shy of an hour and a half and they could have spent another hour or two in there, they've already asked to go back. It was so interesting for us as leaders and also to watch the girls comprehend how life was back then... such a neat experience. Highly recommend this gem for all ages! Thanks to the fantastic office staff and volunteers for preserving this incredible history for generations to come! read more

My wife and I were on a vacation from Minneapolis and we love seeing historical houses. We were near the West End of Vancouver and decided to stop by the Roedde House. The Roeddes were a middle class family and the house was built by a famous architect friend of theirs. It even has a cool turret style corner where the lady of the house would store her plants during winter. There is exquisite moldings everywhere and they even have the old original bannister post that a grandchild had in their private collection. Mr. Roedde was a famous bookbinder in town and had some cool examples of his special marble type of inside the cover action going. We paid our $10 for the two of us and a fantastic tour guide took us on a private tour of the house. They had a ton of old family artifacts there and the history of the family and the house was fascinating. The fact that she had 2 of her children perish was heartbreaking in that one was murdered in a mental institution in her twenties. She still had four others and one more adopted kid. The tour lasted about twenty minutes and then we were left to read all the cool letters and notes left behind by the family. A real top notch historical house! read more

My wife and I visited Roedde House to attend a performance in the Jazz Concert Series. Both the two hour concert and the area of the house we saw (the first floor) were excellent. The House is an easy 10-15 minute walk from the Harbour area hotels. Concerning the house itself, those who delight in visiting lovingly restored older homes and viewing antique pieces will enjoy Roedde House. The volunteers who maintain the house have done a wonderful job of populating it with period piece furniture and hangings. For example, near the coal fireplace hangs an old bed-warmer, and the wooden-cased clock atop the mantel resembles a Greco-Roman temple. Each room has a comprehensive description card in multiple languages, including English, French, Japanese, German, Chinese, Korean, etc. As for the concert, the Steve Kaldestad Trio performed -- Steve on (2) saxophones, Tilden Webb on piano, and Jodi Proznick on bass. About 30 people attended the concert, so the parlor room was lined with chairs. The performers played at one end of the intimate room, creating a warm close-knit atmosphere once the performance began. We in the audience could closely view the performers' fingers manipulate their musical instruments as they created a beautiful sound. During intermission tea and cookies (included in the admission fee) were served in the adjoining dining room. Two types of tea were available: Earl Grey and the delicious special Roedde House blend. The various types of small cookies were crisp and tasty, with just the right amount of sweetness and chocolate to enhance the tea. Most of the attendees appeared to be regulars who knew each other well. There was also a Swiss couple who were visiting Vancouver for the first time since living in the city 45 years earlier. The padded folding seats were a bit hard for a 2 hour performance, but this problem has since been resolved as the volunteers announced that more comfortable seats were expected to be available soon. TIP: if attending a concert, though all seats are good arrive early in order to have a choice. read more

Roedee House is a bit of an undiscovered treasure of Vancouver's West End. Having lived in the city for four years, i only recently found out about this beautifully restored 1890s home, and was glad for the opportunity to visit one of their jazz nights. What a treat it is to be a tourist in your own city. One of the museum's volunteers kindly offered us a quick tour before the music began, explaining some of the history of the house and the story of the Roedde family. I will definitely return for a full tour in the future. We paid a very reasonable rate for some excellent music. Covers of Miles Davis and other jazz greats were played in the gorgeous atmosphere of the Roedde's late Victorian parlour while the cool night air flowed through the room. At the intermission, proper tea and plentiful cookies were served and the room had an immensely convivial atmosphere. Seating was comfortable and ample. This was my first time at the house, and it's been a long time since I've tried to be a tourist in my city. I can't imagine a better way to spend an evening - Vancouverites and travellers alike should make sure to visit, and attend one of their splendid music nights too! read more

A hands on museum that is really sweet. Don't miss the scrapbooks upstairs that they let you look thru. They give a fascinating glimpse of what travel was like last century. read more

Ready to be taken back in time and shown what life was like for a middle-class Victorian-era family during the early years of Vancouver? This Queen Anne revival style home was designed by famous B.C. architect Francis Rattenbury and completed in 1893. It belonged to a German book-binder and entrepreneur, Gustav Roedde, his wife, six children and their three St. Bernard dogs. Looking in from the outside, you can't help but gaze at the beautiful, hand-carved architecture featured on the verandas. Within the home, you are surrounded by a very warm and pleasant aura which beckons you to stay for a tour. Staff and volunteers have done a tremendous job at restoring this home to its original look, as well as collecting artifacts that had once been owned by members of the Roedde family. What makes this museum unique in comparison to the many others I've visited and worked at is that guests are permitted to handle various artifacts (respectfully, of course). For an even more unique visit, drop by on Sundays where they host an afternoon tea and tour. Sit down and discuss the bustling Vancouver city life, or the cold winters of old. In a heritage house such as the Roedde House, the late-Victorian era never seemed so enjoyable! read more

It's a lovely home and very well decorated, and I'm glad we have this heritage home in our hometown. Being a tourist in one's own city is sometimes a treat. This place is an exception unless at some point they decide to organize themselves, train their volunteers, learn how to host and reserve space for concerts etc. Unfortunately, I am not sure why the price does not reflect the quality of the experience. The advertised rate is $8 on the website and I think generally if you are signed up for tea and tour, you shouldn't have to pay the extra $2 for the concert since you have to also wait one hour until it begins. The seating is also saved by concert attendees which is annoying if you've been there 2 hours or more before them. The normal rate is $5 without tea as you know, and I think that would have been too much since my experience there along some others were inadequate and very disorganized. On a larger scale, $5 is not given how expensive everything is, but quality was lacking. The tours were unorganized and stressful as we entered through the front door there was no one to greet us. We found our way into the house with a South Asian girl (sorry I don't know their names as there was no name-tag or introduction) giving a tour to a couple. I inquired and was told by a nervous Asian girl with glasses who was new to sign in and pay cash. I was embarrassed but glad to borrow cash from my guest bc I only had a credit and debit card. We had to ask for a receipt which is customary. She told us she would go upstairs and find out but seemed confused about the request. We were told to wait and then she backed out twice to give a tour bc she was nervous and new which is understandable but unprofessional. The Asian boy who was in the midst of giving a tour to an Asian lady and her baby told us he was busy and doing it in another language and kept telling the girl to do it on her own. She said no a few times because she was new. I asked them what we should do. Basically I had to organize my own tour - so I got myself, my guest and 2 others and invited ourselves to his and told him that we can finish with him when he's done and go back and complete the rest with the original South Asian girl. He said it was ok to go with him. Unfortunately, we could not hear, understand or really comprehend what he was saying. This poor boy was not able to speak English well, had incorrect verbiage and used words like "plumage" for "plumbing", sentences were incoherent, was heavily stuttering, very quiet, nervous and sweating and did not know if he could recall all the information or answer basic questions like where the family originated - I was told they were from "Germany, Germany." Very odd. The lady and her baby pointed out some information and partly gave a tour herself to save his face. The other 2 guests left immediately after the tea and I could not wait for him to say it's over. We thanked him and were served Twining's earl grey and NOT the Roedde House tea as promised. The tea was like hot yellow onion water, and the couple in the tour before us asked the south asian girl to re-make it after suffering through 2 cups of hot water instead of tea. She added more tea bags so when we came around, it was a little like pale yellow orange water with no flavor so we added a lot of milk. We waited and waited and it steeped to a pale orange tea and seemed like the tea bags were old or stale - no flavor or hardly color. The cookies were plentiful and nice however. After a lot of waiting and sweating - it was airless and hot with exception to the entry we went out and enjoyed the lovely garden and some left and new people entered. We came back to what was supposed to be a trio concert and almost every seat tht was not taken had jackets, water bottles and papers on them and were saved. We didn't get a copy of the program but were happy at least to have the opera singer explain a little...it was weird not knowing what she was talking about the entire time, esp. when she had us play a little guessing game or make references to the sheet consistently when we had none. Also, it was really dissapointing that people actually saved their seats an hour before when we had been there since 1pm and had to sit at the back on a low uncomfortable couch in the second room. I asked for chairs and when I did not get any to me within reasonable time, I asked again and the Asian boy was unsure so again I was managing my own seating - until the South Asian girl brought another metal chair.. There were 4 tea time chairs but I got the broken metal one. Thankfully, my guest got a normal chair. I switched it since my bottom was sliding forward (it was dented and going to break) and even though the music had sadly changed, it was still lovely. This was my first time at the house, and first time trying to be a tourist in my city. My guest was not really impressed and could not believe we paid $10 each for this plus gas and parking. Sorry, but this is the read more

My visit to Roedde House Museum was delightful. I was on vacation from Boston, MA and had not been to Vancouver for years. The house has been restored to it's original time and when you enter, it feels that you are going back to this era. It was nice that you are able to wander through the rooms on your own if you would like. However, my friend and I took the tour that was offered. It was a private tour by a guide that was very knowledgeable about the history of the house and the time period - she was also able to provide interesting stories about the family that lived there. It does add to the visit that you are actually able to touch many of the things in the house - for example, playing a few notes on the piano brought images to me of the parlor filled with people of that time dressed in their best clothing. Exploring this museum is an enjoyable experience! read more

A great slice of Vancouver history. Guide was excellent, really enjoyed my visit. I live in the West End, have lived in Vancouver for many, many years and didn't know of this place. Well worth a hour's visit. Thank you to the City for keeping this part of our history alive!! read more