3200 Malaspina Promenade

From 1915 to 1917 the title was registered to Malcolm McCraith, c/o Keefer & Townley. McCraith was part of the Savary Island Park Association which was responsible for selling the previously subdivided lots. 

From 1917 to 1932 the owner was listed as Malcolm McCraith, with the period of 1922 to 1925 shown as owned by W. Vaughan-Robinson.

The house was built in 1930 and McCraith lived there alone. According to Gladys Bloomfield, at some point he developed an ear infection which may have turned into meningitis or a brain abscess. He left Savary on a Union Steamship boat and never returned. 

In 1942 the property was purchased by Allen and Leone Mace. They later had a son, Russell. The Mace family came to Savary as a result of the marriage between Harry Keefer and Gertrude Mace. Mr. Keefer brought Gertie’s father, Allan Mace Sr., to Savary to help build a hotel near what is now the wharf. When Mr. Mace became ill, he convinced his son Bill, a carpenter by trade, to take his place. Bill brought his family to the island, and eventually built his own house as well as many of the early Savary houses. Allen and Leone Mace ran a general store to the east of the wharf. Allen was also a builder and general handyman. One of his jobs was delivering large blocks of ice wrapped in sawdust, brought up by freight boat, for the ice chests of homeowners.

During WWII, the Royal Canadian Navy created new maps of the area and Green’s Point was officially changed to Mace Point. 

In 1949 title was transferred to Leone Mace. Leone ran the store until Allen’s death in 1960. Russell helped out summer residents with odd jobs, and opened and closed cottages. Much appreciated was the cheery fire he lit in the hearth awaiting a family on their first visit back to their cottage. Russell later married Kathy and they had a daughter, Laurie. The family remained in the house after Leone moved from the island, and they later moved to Lund. 

Peter and Wendy Armstrong purchased the property in 1989. When Leone decided to sell, she looked for a family that would appreciate the history and care for her home. The Armstrongs did just that. They kept the original house, and added on to each side. The first change was in 1990, a renovation of the attic to create a bedroom for their young children, Ashley, Chelsea and Tristan. The contractor was Peter Saunders and the carpenter was Gordie Coles. The kitchen was only roughed in, and the Armstrongs found the walls full of Laurie’s pencil signatures. Many renovations and additions have been made to the house since.  

The area between the house and the bank was once large enough to be used by Savary children as a baseball diamond, but the sea was ripping away more of the beach front each year.  In 2000, Peter acquired the road allowance and his contractors successfully stabilized the bank by building a retaining wall made with granite from Hardy Island. 

When Peter Saunders retired, Murray de Graag took over construction and upkeep at Mace House. He built the boat house and continued the in-house renovations.

When Peter and Wendy separated it seemed the natural thing for Wendy to build her own home a few lots to the west and for Peter to live in and maintain the Mace Point house, which he does to this day with his partner, Suvina Mah. They built “The Pavillion” in front of Mace House in 2015 which includes an outdoor kitchen, fire pit and living space for friends and family to enjoy. 

Additions from Peter Armstrong (2026)

The seawall was first a soft-impact approach of logs secured by cables, but the nor'-westerlies made mincemeat of that approach. Steve Skorey of Powell River was hired to create a permanent seawall of granite rock from Hardy Island on the north side of Nelson Island, in Jervis Inlet. This is the same quarry for the stone lions at the Vancouver “old” court house, now the Vancouver Art Gallery.

In 2013 Drew Rose designed the dining pavilion on the east side of the property. It took two winters to complete. On June 18, 2016 the Pottingers requested, with a few hours’ notice, if they could hold the wedding reception for Oscar and Jenny there, because their hope for a beachside reception got changed because of rain and winds.

In 2023/24 the back deck was expanded by Murray de Graag, and is a focal point for the grandchildren to put on plays and singing presentations.

While the original house has been expanded and renovated the main elements of the home have been retained.

Published 2025

Notes from Sherwood Inglis on Malcolm McCraith

"Gladys Bloomfield always referred to him as SIR Malcolm. However, there is no record of Malcolm himself ever being knighted, but both his father, James, and his uncle WERE knighted – his uncle in 1904, and his father in 1918. So, Gladys Bloomfield was not that far off the mark, when she referred to Sir Malcolm. Unless, perhaps, she was right, and the title is inherited and passes down.

Malcolm was born Feb 7, 1882, and grew up in an English house, affluent enough to employ four female servants. 

He came to Canada in 1910, and worked as an engineer. 

He enlisted in the Canadian army in 1915 and was stationed in Egypt, Palestine and Salonika. He had half a dozen stays in hospital while enlisted, and was twice court-martialed – once for drunkenness, and once for going AWOL.

He returned to Canada in 1919, and became prominent in the Canadian Kennel Club, a rather toney institution at that time. The Kennel Club noted his passing, with a lengthy article. 

Malcolm McCraith boarded the steamer Princess Mary at Savary, August 30, 1935, outbound for Vancouver, and was discovered dead in his stateroom next morning."