Gabrielle Bayona is excited about her upcoming tour of the Columbia Theatre in downtown New Westminster because she's heard stories about the place.
"Apparently, the basement is really scary," she says, smiling.
Bayona is so interested in knowing more about the character buildings and the stories they house in her neighbourhood that she admits to knocking on doors and asking for tours.
She especially loves hearing tales about possible hauntings, and says her own brick-exposed basement at Ellebay Bridal Boutique on Columbia Street frightens her sometimes.
"I like the spookiness. It's like my own little mystery I can solve, and nobody else is doing it," says the 20-year-old, who co-owns Ellebay Bridal Boutique with her mom, Merly Bayona, a couturier and seamstress who made wedding dresses in Burnaby until her and daughter Bayona opened their New Westminster location in 2010.
Another source of intrigue for Bayona, the recently closed Keg on Columbia Street - an old train station.
"I had a friend who worked there (at the Keg), and she would be in the basement and she would get so spooked," she says. "It was cold down there, and it was a bit creepy."
Bayona spoke with another building owner on Front Street who told her he discovered a fresco on the ceiling of his space.
The rumour was the space was either a ballroom or a brothel, she says.
"If you've got it, flaunt it," says Bayona, who didn't plan on becoming a dress designer, but when she graduated, the grad dress she crafted for herself ended up being her mom's bestseller. From there, Bayona designed four wedding dresses for the store.
"They are the only ones that sold that season," she says.
It's clear that Bayona has great style. On the day she spoke with The Record, she was wearing black tights, a blue denim blouse, thick-black rimmed glasses and comfortably chic flats with a thick rubber sole. Her lips are painted with sophisticated burgundy rouge, but she wears little makeup otherwise.
Bayona loves the neighbourhood where she works and lives - especially the many mysteries she discovered since she moved in.
One of her favourite structures is the old federal fisheries building on Canarvon Street.
When she approached the old red brick building recently, a sign said: "Trespassers will be violated."
"But there was somebody on the other side . I asked if I could go over the fence, and he said I could," Bayona says, explaining how she charmed her way in to look around.
Another space she loves is the Westminster Building, which housed the Westminster Club, a business and social club.
The building that houses Five Stone's Church on Columbia Street is also "amazing," she says.
Bayona's favourite place to hang out in her hood is her store's basement sewing room. She has friends over and they sew together or watch TV.
"We have little get-togethers in the basement. Before the construction happened (at the Trapp Block, located beside her store), I used to make everyone go through the back entrance, and it felt like a speakeasy," Bayona says with a mischievous grin.
