Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Photos: Would you want to live in an old Vancouver corner store?

Did anyone else want to live in a store as a kid?

In government files online this building is described as a two-storey house—standard.

That hardly seems fair.

Just over a decade ago, 1910 E Second Ave was Kwan Ling Grocery Store. Upstairs there was a residence, but downstairs it was a neighbourhood corner store, serving the residents living around East Second Avenue and Victoria Street, just a little ways from Commercial Drive.

While there is still a residence upstairs, the downstairs is one of the more unusual homes in Vancouver. It's a bachelor apartment now, with the former storefront now someone's front door. Inside, where groceries, newspapers and cigarettes were sold is a living room and kitchen.

And a bedroom of sorts; it's got a Murphy bed, the most famous of the beds stored vertically.

While looks like a home, there are a few features that are odd, like the pillars or the concrete floor. The strangest section is likely the front wall, which faces Victoria Street. Huge street-level windows look out onto the sidewalk while a recessed door looks exactly like something you'd see for a shop, but is unexpected for a residence.

Upstairs is pretty standard, but look at that back deck! It's probably the high point for the whole building.

The property, which also includes a garage and a bit of backyard space, is on sale right now, running $1.888 million.

kwan-ling-grocery-store-vancouver-2009
Kwan Ling Grocery Store at 1910 E 2nd Ave seen in 2009 on Google Street View. Google Maps