ALAN WYLIE brings heritage Hope House back to life

Painting of “Illahie”, the Charles Hope House, by Alan Wylie

In 1909 Charles Hope built a beautiful home, “Illahie”, on the parcel where the Fort Langley Fire Hall now stands. Hope followed D.W. Poppy to become the second President of the Fort Langley and District Board of Trade in 1910. He played an important role in town planning and bringing electricity to the village. Fort Langley was the first village to have street lights in the Lower Fraser Valley.
Charles Hope owned a lot of Fort Langley after marrying Alexander Mavis’ daughter, Lily. She was the registered owner of many village properties including the lot now occupied by the Birthplace of B.C. Gallery. One of the gallery artists, Alan Wylie, recently painted “Illahie” from a photo provided by Charles’ grandson, Larry Hope.
The Hope House was completely destroyed by fire in 1928. Lanstone Homes’ townhomes are in the planning stage for the former Hope estate, “Illahie”.