Written by Akela
Last semester was filled with exciting field trips; among them, the Roedde House Museum stands out as my favourite. The design of this charming house captured my attention at first sight, especially during the spooky month of Halloween. Nonetheless, this tour not only allowed me to enjoy the beautiful architecture itself but also let us know more about the mysterious history of the Roedde family in the late Victorian era.
The Roedde House is a museum with well-designed artifacts, relics, and historical stories. Each Roedde family’s room exhibits elegant Victorian design pieces, from the kitchen to the bedrooms, which provides the audience with a glimpse of the family’s life in the 19th century. Gustav Roedde started Vancouver’s first bookbinding business in 1888 and then moved to this house with his family. The house’s architect is Francis Rattenbury, a well-known architect for many Vancouver-designated Victoria-style houses in British Columbia. The Roedde house is renovated and furnished to reflect the ambience of late Victorian family life and people’s life in the late 19th century.
Our tour guide, a polite and charming lady, animatedly shared tales of the Roedde family in the late 19th century from her knowledge and experience. Her vivid descriptions painted a detailed picture that allowed me to understand the family’s daily life better. The kitchen and the cleaning areas are my favourite parts of the house, showing the labour-intensive routines at that time. The tour lady also introduced various baking tools and cleaning and laundry methods, which echoed my experiences when I was young. I grew up in a traditional Chinese rural area, where my grandma used similar methods and tools to clean the whole house.
When I returned home from the trip, the experience stimulated me to explore the Roedde house’s history online. The museum has a well-designed website, a YouTube channel, and an Instagram platform that tells the family’s fascinating ghostly stories and tales. Besides, the YouTube channel featured a captivating talk by Dr. Aren, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of British Columbia. The speech focuses on Victorian Spiritualism, adding another spookiness to the house. His narratives of people communicating with ghosts during that period added another creepy layer to the home of the Roedde family.
After a whole day’s exploration of the house, my mind was still excited about this unique experience. The Roedde House Museum provided a historical journey and a personal connection to the past, bridging the gap between eras and cultures in a most enchanting way.