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P01475 – Hill House in its hill-top location in about 1915.

P08432 – Hill House as it looked in the 1970’s.

Hill House

The Hill House is a lovely mansion that was built by skilled Finnish carpenter Victor Rossi of Webster's Corners between 1911- 1912. The house, which sits on 240th street near Lougheed Highway in Albion, was built for Hendrick and Ida Hill. The lovely landmark home was built with a wrap-around veranda and imposing turret room.

Hendrick and Ida participated in the Yukon Gold Rush of the 1900s, and made quite a bit of money. Hendrick eventually came to own a mine that employed 30 men. As a sign of his wealth, Hendrick sported a gold watch and chain that was decorated with solid gold nuggets.

When the couple moved to British Columbia in 1910, the family bought a house in Vancouver. While they were living there, they arranged for the ten-room Hill House to be built on 38 acres of land.

The Hill's were quite a generous family. Their son Harold recalls the countless meals that were served to hungry men during the extremely hard year of 1913.

When Harold married Erna Sobries of Webster's Corners, the couple moved into the Hill house. He recalls how the family provided lodging for new residents in Albion and gave food for poor men that passed through during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Erna opened a restaurant in the house called Hilltop Dining in 1952. The restaurant was placed in the old living and dining rooms, which were renovated for the business venture. Hilltop Dining had the distinction of being the first restaurant to have a beer and wine license on the north side of the Fraser River. Unfortunately, the restaurant had to close in 1956. Rather than failing in its purpose, the restaurant was overly successful. Quite quickly there were more customers than there was space, and the kitchen was not big enough to keep up with all the diners. Rather than renovate the heritage home again, the family closed the restaurant down.

In 1972, the 4,000 square foot building was sold to Dr. Arthur and Jean Jones. In 1996, the house was moved to a location right on of 240th Street after the Jones decided to sell the 38 acres to a Vancouver developer.

After sitting vacant for a few years, Port Coquitlam couple Mike and Carolyn Holt bought the Hill House in 2001 and set out to restore it to its former glory. During renovations the couple found two intriguing items in the cavity behind the chimney. One of the items is a piece of wood that has a Finnish inscription on it that reads “Working on this construction was building master Vilho Tapis from Finland, in Vaasan Laani, Kalvaika, July and August, 1912.” Victor Rossi had brought some workmen from Finland to help him with this large construction project and one of them had left this message. Also found was a key labeled the Oliver Hotel. The mystery of who left the key, when and why is still unsolved.

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