3069 Townley Walk

Nov 11, 2024

4 min read

(The address was changed from 3069 Arbutus Avenue to 3069 Townley Walk in the 1990s by Libby Sharp)

The property is located behind the lots that front on Malaspina Promenade, with access from Townley Walk. In 1915, it was owned by Ruyter S. Sherman, c/o Keefer & Townley.

Vancouver obstetrician Dr. Walter Scott Turnbull and his wife Dora purchased the property in 1918. A substantial log home was built in 1920/22 which was named Marvonne, after their two daughters, Margaret Harriet and Beatrice Yvonne. Margaret, born in 1909 in Goodrich, Ontario, was trained as a nurse and married Dr. Harry Edward (Ed) White who practiced internal medicine in Powell River.

Yvonne, Walter and Dora Turnbull

(There were two Dr. Turnbulls on the island in the early years. Dr. Walter Scott Turnbull should not be confused with his brother Dr. James Lockie Turnbull who had built a log home at 2958 Malaspina Promenade in 1914. His property was located closer to the wharf, where the second family house now stands, called Turnbull Green.)

The house was reportedly built from logs that were collected and dragged by a team of horses from Duck Bay after a log boom had broken up. The home consisted of a substantial living room, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a dining room and small kitchen. There were eight-foot wide, covered porches on three sides of the house. The saddles, where the logs joined at the corners of the house, were all cut upside down which could have been disastrous as they would have collected rain and rotted, so it was fortunate they were well covered by the eight-foot porch overhang. The Turnbulls added another bedroom in 1935.

Upside down saddles

The substantial living room fireplace remains an important feature of the home today. There were two stone masons on the island, George Bloomfield and William Mace. Mr. Mace was chosen to do the work and he hired a crew to bring the rocks from Green's Point. This crew also had a bit of fun and grouted two empty beer bottles between the stones, where they can still be seen today. Dr. Turnbull asked that the grouting around the fireplace stones be pink to match the pink chinking used between the logs on the exterior of the house. The house chinking has since been painted white.

Fireplace with pink grouting

Dr. Turnbull, having one of the earlier homes on the island, entertained many future Savary residents, including his friend Dr. F.N. Robertson, who built his own cottage called Tullyokie, further down the road.

Peter James Sharp and his wife Norma Georgina Sharp bought Marvonne in 1957. The Sharps had three daughters, Margaret (m. Huber), Georgina (m. Coustalin) and Elizabeth (Libby) (m. Wood).

Margaret, Georgina and Elizabeth in the back garden

Libby recounts that when the Sharps purchased the house, they found fifty or more stuffed animal heads, including two moose heads, several deer heads, a mountain goat head and a bald eagle. Several heads were in rough shape so they only kept a few, including the two moose heads. One of the moose heads was becoming moth-eaten so Peter Sharp took him down, nailed him to a log on the beach, and then pushed him out on the tide to float towards Lund. The story then goes on that the water taxi driver was heard to say excitedly that he had seen a moose swimming from Savary to Lund. Not to be left out, the remaining one-eyed moose head was decorated as Santa Claus one Christmas.

One eyed moose

Libby lived on the island year-round for two years with her husband Lee Wood, son of Norma Wood and grandson of Elmer Lee, both long-time Savary residents. They were married in the cottage in 1986 by a Powell River justice of the peace, with Libby's parents and Frankie Keefer in attendance. Frankie was brought to Savary from the hospital in Powell River by her nurses.

In 1970 the back of the home was extended, adding a larger kitchen and dining room. The builder was Woody Treadwell, who sourced logs from Pemberton to move the back wall out eight feet and added French doors and larger windows.

After Peter’s death in 1995, Norma Sharp and Libby Wood became owners of the property which then passed on to Libby on Norma's death in 2015. One of the first things done after Peter's death was the installation of two skylights letting in much needed light.

In 2020, the property was purchased by Hillary Rockvam (nee Clarke) and her brother Alan Clarke. Renovations have included the addition of skylights and painting of the fireplace, ceiling, window and door trims white, which has lightened up the interior. The welcoming front door has been updated to a special colour of turquoise called Too Yacht to Handle. While adding more modern operating systems, Hillary and Alan plan on keeping this heritage cottage looking much as it has for over 100 years