Our family recently rented Chaster House for a reunion to take advantage of the beachfront location. The rates are reasonable and the house, although old, has a kitchen, a bathroom and a large open meeting room. Its chief charm is a large grassy area overlooking the beach and the pleasant Chaster Creek (once known as Payne Creek) flowing through the property to the ocean.
Originally owned by the Chaster family, this regional facility sits at Gower Point on the east end of the Ocean Beach esplanade and opposite the Bonniebrook Lodge which was rebuilt by the Chasters in 1920 after a fire burnt the original building. The Squamish people, in whose traditional territory Elphinstone is located, were known to have had a settlement there, an excellent location to take advantage of the fall salmon run at the mouth of Chaster Creek. When we first moved to Elphinstone in the early 1980s, the old store stood just west of the site but is now gone.
There is not much information to be found about the history of the current Chaster House – at one time the SCRD had put together an information package but unfortunately it disappeared. If anyone has seen this document, the SCRD would like to have it back, no questions asked. The parks assistant at the SCRD told me that Chaster House and grounds was purchased for $270,000 in 1992 from James Chaster. It probably seemed like a lot of money at the time but what foresight was shown to acquire this treasure for the benefit and use of the community forever!
In The Gibsons Landing Story by Lester Peterson (out of print but available at the library), the original Chaster House built by James Chaster for his family stood close to the current day building near the creek. Gower Point became a popular holiday destination and many cottages were build in the area. Judging by the cottage style of Chaster House, it was most likely rented out for that purpose when the Chasters moved across the road to what is now Bonniebrook Lodge. The original Chaster House was also used for church services leading to the name Amen Corner to be applied to it. Old maps of the area show that what is currently known as Chaster Road was originally known as Honeymoon Lane.
In trying to find out more about Chaster House, I came across a fascinating Heritage Inventory prepared for the Town of Gibsons (2006) identifying historic buildings and historic trees. Has anyone heard if there is something like this for Elphinstone? If not, I’d like readers to have their say. What buildings or trees do you think need to be identified as historic in Elphinstone? Contact me at about this or any other Elphinstone news at [email protected]
