The house in which the late Vancouver financier and philanthropist Milton K. Wong lived and later raised his family will be preserved in a proposed development of a seven-storey condo building beside the residence.

The split-level home at 5010 Cambie Street was one of three properties assembled by Pennyfarthing Construction Co. Ltd. and is currently the subject of a rezoning application.

Built behind an outcropping of volcanic rock and completed in 1956, the Wong residence, according to a “heritage statement of significance” prepared by heritage consultants Donald Luxton and Associates Inc., “demonstrates the increasing integration of the Chinese community within postwar suburban areas of Vancouver, even as they were excluded in other developments, such as the British Properties”.

Wong was the second-youngest of the nine children in the family. He lived in the house while attending UBC. He moved to Toronto in the 1960s and returned to Vancouver later. Wong and his wife, Fei, settled in the same house, where they raised their daughters. Wong spent the rest of his life in the Cambie Street home.

Pennyfarthing Construction plans to build 49 condo units in the proposed mid-rise building, as well as a laneway house at the back.

In its project description, the developer states that the “preservation and an innate respect of the Wong residence are at the core of the proposal”.