British Properties, West Vancouver: A Buyer’s Guide

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The British Properties is the hillside above Park Royal that you enter by Taylor Way. It did not grow street by street like most of the North Shore. It was planned by one company, British Pacific Properties, which the Guinness brewing family set up in 1931, and which also built the Lions Gate Bridge so that people could get to it.

That history still matters to a buyer. Many of the street names come from the company’s plans of the 1930s, the golf course and Park Royal were part of the same scheme, and the questions that decide what you can do with a lot here are about slope, creeks, trees, wildfire and what is registered on title. This guide covers those, with the District’s own sources linked beside each fact.

Call them before you rely on anything here

Rules, catchments and bus routes change, sometimes with little notice. Everything on this page is subject to change. Phone or email the people who decide before you write an offer. Last reviewed 2 October 2026.

The short version

  • Where: West Vancouver, on the slope above Park Royal. The District’s archives treat Taylor Way as its entrance. There is no legal boundary, so check the address, not the advertisement.
  • Where the name comes from: British Pacific Properties, created in 1931 by the Guinness family. The early plans called the development Capilano Estates.
  • What decides what you can build: the zone (West Vancouver has single-family zones from RS1 to RS10, each with its own minimum lot size), anything registered on title, and whether the lot sits in a wildfire or watercourse development permit area.
  • Schools: West Vancouver Schools places Chartwell Elementary and Sentinel Secondary in the British Properties, and Westcot Elementary at its foot. Confirm the catchment for the exact address on 604-981-1000.
  • Bus: TransLink route 254 British Properties/Park Royal/Vancouver.
  • Rules in transition: West Vancouver’s small-scale multi-unit housing rules are being amended. The new bylaw had third reading on 21 September 2026 and was not adopted when this page was written.

On this page

Where it is, and which city hall you deal with

The British Properties has no legal boundary. The West Vancouver Archives use the name for a neighbourhood and place its entrance at Taylor Way: Westcot and Eastcot, the Archives say, sit either side of Taylor Way at the entrance to the British Properties. Streets the Archives place inside it include Stevens Drive, which runs north-east from the top of Taylor Way to Bonnymuir Drive, King George’s Way, Hadden Drive and Biddesden Place.

Listings use the name loosely, so treat it as a description, not a fact about the property. The original development name was different again: the Archives hold records of the development of the Capilano Estates, also known as the British Properties.

Everything municipal goes to the District of West Vancouver, not to either of the North Vancouvers. Municipal Hall is at 750 17th Street, open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The main line is 604-925-7000. For what you can build, Planning and Development Services is 604-925-7055, and Permits and Inspections is 604-925-7040.

How it began: one company, a bridge and a golf course

British Pacific Properties Limited was created as a company in 1931 by the Guinness brewing family. Alfred James Towle Taylor, whom the Archives credit with developing the company, also arranged the financing for the bridge; the District’s own history says the Lions Gate Bridge was funded by private foreign investment through the efforts of A.J.T. Taylor. Taylor Drive is named after him.

The order of events explains the neighbourhood:

  • Summer 1937: the Capilano Golf and Country Club opens for play, on land the company committed to it (Archives). Its clubhouse at 420 Southborough Drive was built in 1938 to a design by J.F. Dawson of the Olmsted Brothers (Archives).
  • 12 and 14 November 1938: the Lions Gate Bridge opens, to pedestrians on 12 November and to cars two days later (District of West Vancouver).
  • 29 May 1939: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth are photographed on Eyremont Drive during their visit for the bridge’s official opening (Archives).
  • September 1950: Park Royal opens at the foot of the hill, anchored by Woodward’s (Archives).

Many street names come straight from the company’s plans of 1934 to 1937. King George’s Way, for example, appears as “King George Way” on sketches from 1934.

What is on your title

A neighbourhood that one company planned and sold is a neighbourhood where the title search deserves a careful read. The District says plainly that what you need to build or renovate depends partly on it: permit requirements vary with lot size, creeks, slope and whether a covenant is attached to the property.

I could not confirm from a primary source whether the restrictions the company registered when it sold the original lots still bind today, or on which lots. So do not assume either way. Ask your lawyer or notary to pull every charge on title, covenants, easements, rights of way and building schemes included, and to tell you in writing what each one stops you doing, before you remove subjects.

What can be built: zones, lot sizes and the 2026 changes

Single-family zones with different minimum lot sizes

West Vancouver has many single-family zones, from RS1 to RS10, plus Upper Lands variants, and each sets its own minimum site area. RS3, for example, requires 975 square metres and RS2 1,625 square metres (Zoning Bylaw 4662, section 200). I could not find a District page that says which zone covers which part of the British Properties, so look the exact lot up on the District’s WestMap or ask Planning on 604-925-7055.

Small-scale multi-unit housing: rules in transition

West Vancouver brought in the provincial small-scale multi-unit housing rules when Council adopted Amendment Bylaw No. 5351 on August 12, 2024. Those rules are now being changed again after the Province passed Bill 25. Council gave the new amendment bylaw third reading on 21 September 2026 and referred it to the Ministry of Transportation and Transit, whose approval is needed before it can be adopted. If you are paying for the chance to add units, ask Planning what applies on the day you write your offer.

One provincial exemption is especially relevant here: the small-scale housing rules do not apply to lots larger than 4,050 square metres, to heritage-designated land, or to land not served by municipal or regional water or sewer, according to the same District page.

Retaining walls

On a sloping lot, walls matter. The zoning bylaw caps the exposed face of a retaining wall at 2.4 metres, except inclined walls such as stacked rock where the slope is less than 75 per cent (Zoning Bylaw 4662, section 120.22). If a house you are looking at has a taller wall, ask when it was built and whether it was permitted.

Slopes, creeks, trees and wildfire

West Vancouver has three natural environment and hazard development permit areas: Environmental, which protects watercourses and their banks; Wildfire Hazard; and Foreshore (District of West Vancouver). On this hillside the first two are the ones to check.

  • Creeks: an Environmental development permit is required for work within 15 metres of the top of any watercourse bank (development permits).
  • Wildfire: the Wildfire Hazard development permit area covers all properties within 100 metres of a forested area, which the District puts at about half the land in West Vancouver. It was approved on 14 December 2020 (wildfire hazard development permit). The District does not list it by neighbourhood, so check the lot on WestMap’s wildfire layer.
  • FireSmart: the District offers free FireSmart home assessments in every West Vancouver neighbourhood (FireSmart community). Fire prevention is on 604-925-7392.
  • Trees: you need a permit to cut a protected tree on private property. Protected trees include any tree 75 cm in diameter or more, arbutus, Garry oak, Pacific yew, Pacific dogwood, yellow cedar and shore pine from 20 cm, and trees 10 cm or more within 15 metres of the top of a watercourse bank (tree cutting permits).

None of this stops you buying. It changes what a renovation or rebuild costs and how long it takes, which is why it belongs in your due diligence rather than after completion.

Schools

West Vancouver Schools describes Chartwell Elementary as situated in the British Properties, Sentinel Secondary as located in the British Properties, and Westcot Elementary as situated at the foot of the British Properties.

  • Chartwell Elementary, kindergarten to Grade 7, 1300 Chartwell Drive (Province of BC).
  • Sentinel Secondary, Grades 8 to 12, 1250 Chartwell Drive (Province of BC).
  • Westcot Elementary, at the foot of the hill.

Being near a school is not the same as being in its catchment. I did not find an online catchment map, so phone West Vancouver Schools on 604-981-1000 with the exact address before you remove subjects.

Getting around

  • Bus: TransLink route 254 British Properties/Park Royal/Vancouver. The District’s April 2026 timetable lists stops on Taylor Way, Southborough, Eyremount, Cross Creek, Chartwell and Crestwell.
  • Downtown Vancouver: down Taylor Way and over the Lions Gate Bridge.
  • The mountain: BC Parks directs visitors to Cypress Provincial Park via the Upper Levels Highway and Taylor Way; the Hollyburn cross-country area is 12.8 km up the road (BC Parks).
  • Shopping: Park Royal, at the foot of Taylor Way.

What to check before you buy in the British Properties

  • Every charge on title, read by your lawyer or notary, with a written note of what each one restricts.
  • The zone, the minimum lot size, and whether the lot is over 4,050 square metres, on WestMap or with Planning on 604-925-7055.
  • Whether the lot is in the Wildfire Hazard or Environmental development permit area, and whether any trees on it are protected. How views are protected, and when they are not.
  • The permit history for retaining walls, additions and finished basements. How to check permit history.
  • For a house built before the 1960s, whether there is a buried oil tank. What to do about it.
  • The catchment school for the exact address, from West Vancouver Schools on 604-981-1000.

Read next

Sources

  1. West Vancouver Archives, British Pacific Properties Limited. Checked 2 October 2026.
  2. West Vancouver Archives, Westcot Road and Stevens Drive. Checked 2 October 2026.
  3. West Vancouver Archives, Capilano Estates records. Checked 2 October 2026.
  4. West Vancouver Archives, royal visit photograph. Checked 2 October 2026.
  5. West Vancouver Archives, Capilano Golf and Country Club clubhouse. Checked 2 October 2026.
  6. District of West Vancouver, Lions Gate Bridge. Checked 2 October 2026.
  7. District of West Vancouver, small-scale multi-unit housing. Checked 2 October 2026.
  8. District of West Vancouver, hazard development permit areas. Checked 2 October 2026.
  9. District of West Vancouver, tree cutting permits. Checked 2 October 2026.
  10. West Vancouver Schools, our schools. Checked 2 October 2026.
  11. TransLink, route 254. Checked 2 October 2026.
  12. BC Parks, Cypress Provincial Park. Checked 2 October 2026.

Before you act: call the District on 604-925-7000 and West Vancouver Schools on 604-981-1000 with the exact address. The information on this page is subject to change.

Disclaimer. This page is general information about a neighbourhood, not advice about a specific property, and nothing on it is legal, tax or financial advice. Zoning, development permit areas, heritage rules, school catchments, bus routes and park rules all change, sometimes with little notice. Every fact here was checked against the source linked beside it on 2 October 2026; last reviewed 2 October 2026, next review January 2027. Before you rely on anything on this page, confirm the current position with the District of West Vancouver at 604-925-7000 or info@westvancouver.ca, West Vancouver Schools at 604-981-1000, and TransLink for routes and times. Take independent legal, tax and financial advice before committing money to a purchase or a sale.

Tom Jahed, licensed REALTOR® with Vanak Realty in North Vancouver

Tom Jahed, REALTOR®

Vanak Realty, North Vancouver. Ten years in North Vancouver real estate and more than 400 transactions closed, including pre-sales. Works in English and Farsi.

About Tom · 778-903-7306

Written by Tom Jahed, licensed REALTOR®, Vanak Realty, North Vancouver.