Historic Beban House at 2290 Bowen Road, home to Tourism Nanaimo since 1997, is now up for rent.

A site visit will be held on January 11, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. at Beban House for those interested in renting Beban House. Closing date for offers to rent Beban House is 2:00pm PST, January 19, 2012 at the Purchasing Office, City of Nanaimo 2020 Labieux Road, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6J9.

The story behind Historic Beban House:

Frank Beban was born in New Zealand in 1882 and emigrated to Canada in 1907. By 1911, Mr. Beban opened a sawmill in Cumberland, followed by a lumber mill and a coal mine in Extension.  In 1927, he acquired the Empire Lumber Company.

In 1930, Mr. Beban and his family purchased an existing farm of 160 acres upon which he built a house and a racetrack where he trained thoroughbreds.  The house was designed with a porte-cochère and the interior in the art deco style which was popular in that era. The gardens of the house were extensive.  Mr. Beban died in 1952 and the house and property were purchased by the City of Nanaimo in 1953.

For 35 years, the house was neglected to the point where the City of Nanaimo considered demolishing it. The gardens had turned to weeds. In the early 1990s, the City realized that the house was designed in an architectural style that was unique to Vancouver Island and listed it on their historical register.  In 1997, it became the home of Tourism Nanaimo which occupied this site since then.

What will be the next life of Historic Beban House in Nanaimo?