Boasting 30 heritage-listed houses built 1888 to 1908, Mole Hill is the last surviving block of pre-World War I housing stock in Vancouver. The block exemplifies BC’s Victorian and Edwardian domestic architecture, providing a direct link to the earliest days of the city.

The City of Vancouver intended to demolish the block, but the efforts of the Mole Hill Living Heritage Society persuaded them to change their plans, promoting a community vision which preserved social history and heritage architecture, while providing affordable housing and green space.

In his presentation to the BCHF 2023 conference, Quentin Wright explores how Mole Hill was saved and restored, highlighting the success of the block as a community resource. Wright has worked in non-profit housing for 20 years, and has been executive director of Mole Hill Community Housing Society since 2014. He helped to found Mole Hill Neighbourhood Support Society in 2019.