Chartwell, West Vancouver: Homes for Sale, Prices, Schools and Daily Life

Chartwell lies on the lower slope of Hollyburn Ridge. The West Vancouver Archives describes it as the area from Brothers Creek in the east to Lawson Creek in the west, and from the two schools in the south up to the 1,200 foot level of the ridge, which is 366 metres above the sea. Chartwell Drive is the main road. It climbs from Cross Creek Road, passes both schools and reaches Crestwell Road near the top.

The road gains height the whole way. Natural Resources Canada's elevation data gives 189 metres above sea level at the corner of Cross Creek Road and Chartwell Drive, 234 metres at the bus stop in the 1300 block, where Chartwell Elementary has its address, 285 metres at Chippendale Road and 326 metres where Crestwell Road meets Chartwell Drive.

In our view, the height is the main reason people buy here. On October 9, 2026, 94% of listing descriptions in Chartwell mentioned a view. In our experience, the main rooms look south and south-east over Ambleside, the Lions Gate Bridge, Stanley Park and downtown Vancouver. The photo at the top of this page was taken from Cypress Mountain, west of Chartwell, and shows the same water and skyline.

In our view, Chartwell suits a family that wants a large house, a view, and a public elementary school and a public high school inside the neighbourhood. Every errand needs a car or a planned bus trip. A buyer who wants to walk to shops will be happier in Ambleside or Dundarave, at the bottom of the hill.

The name comes from England. The West Vancouver Archives, citing the West Vancouver Historical Society's 2004 gazetteer of place names, says the neighbourhood is named after Chartwell, the home of Sir Winston Churchill in Kent. The same record says that British Pacific Properties, while it was developing the area, called it the Chartwell Extension to its Capilano Estates subdivision.

British Pacific Properties is the company behind the British Properties next door. The Archives records that the Guinness brewing family created it in 1931 to buy 4,700 acres on Hollyburn Ridge and to receive the right to develop them. A map that the District's planning department drew on July 4, 1966 carries the title British Pacific Properties Capilano Estates.

Two records from 1966 show streets and public land being set out here. That planning map runs from Chartwell Drive to Moyne Drive and marks lots, street addresses and the sites of schools and parks. In the same year the District bought the land for Chartwell Park from British Pacific Properties for $23,000, under a park purchase bylaw. The Archives places the park between Chartwell Drive and the western arm of Brothers Creek.

The elementary school appears in records of the same decade. The West Vancouver Art Museum holds photographs of Chartwell Elementary by John Fulker that it dates to the 1960s, and its record names Duncan McNab as the architect. The listings fit these dates: every house for sale here on October 9, 2026 was finished in 1960 or later.

Chartwell is a residential area with no shops. The map data on this page shows no grocery store, cafe, pharmacy or clinic inside it. In our experience, residents shop at Park Royal, at the bottom of Taylor Way, or along Marine Drive in Ambleside and Dundarave.

The table names a lawn bowling club as the nearest recreation centre, because it measures every sports facility on the map. The District's winter page, as saved on September 1, 2025, gives 2121 Marine Drive as the address of the West Vancouver Community Centre and 1950 Marine Drive as the address of the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

The two schools bring most of the traffic on Chartwell Drive. In our experience, the lower part of the road is busy before school starts and again after 3 p.m., and calm for the rest of the day. On weekdays in the fall 2026 schedule, TransLink runs one extra bus, marked School Special, that starts in the 1300 block at 3:05 p.m.

Above the last houses the slope is forest. Two District trails start at the corner of Eyremount Drive and Chartwell Drive. The Millstream Trail links that corner with the second switchback on Cypress Bowl Road. The District rates it easy to moderate and gives 4 km for the return trip. The Old Brewis Trail follows the Millstream Trail through the British Pacific Properties gate and then climbs north up the mountain. The District gives 4.5 km for its return trip and warns of some steep sections.

The Hollyburn Fir stands where the Old Brewis Trail meets the Crossover Trail. The District's trail page, as saved on August 17, 2025, gives the tree an age of 1,115 years and a height of 43.7 metres.

Lawson Creek, the west edge of Chartwell, has a walk of its own. The Lawson Creek Forestry Heritage Walk is a 5 km loop that starts at the top of Pinecrest Drive. Near the start, walkers pass the remains of the Shields log dam and its flume pond. The map on this page marks Chartwell Park, Douglas Woodward Park and Cross Creek Park among the green spaces close to the middle of the area.

Cypress Provincial Park lies above West Vancouver. BC Parks says the road to it leaves the Upper Levels Highway and that the cross-country ski area on Hollyburn is 12.8 km up that road, with the downhill ski area 2 km further. The park was created in 1975. Hollyburn Ridge, the ridge Chartwell stands on, forms the park's east boundary in the province's place name record.