2 records – page 1 of 1.

Angus & Margaret MacDonald House

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark495
Repository
Burnaby Heritage Planning
Description
Set on a large corner lot at North Esmond Avenue and Oxford Street, the Angus & Margaret MacDonald House is a prominent, two and one-half storey Queen Anne Revival-style residence. The high hipped roof has open projecting gables. The house is a landmark within the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of…
Associated Dates
1909
Formal Recognition
Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
Street View URL
Google Maps Street View
Repository
Burnaby Heritage Planning
Geographic Access
Oxford Street
Associated Dates
1909
Formal Recognition
Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
Enactment Type
Bylaw No. 12174
Enactment Date
11/12/2006
Description
Set on a large corner lot at North Esmond Avenue and Oxford Street, the Angus & Margaret MacDonald House is a prominent, two and one-half storey Queen Anne Revival-style residence. The high hipped roof has open projecting gables. The house is a landmark within the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of North Burnaby, on a high point of land overlooking Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains.
Heritage Value
The MacDonald House is valued as one of Burnaby’s most elaborate examples of the Queen Anne Revival style. The house retains many of its original features, including a prominent front corner turret wrapped by a clamshell verandah. The eclectic and transitional nature of Edwardian-era architecture is demonstrated by the late persistence of these Queen Anne Revival details, combined with the use of newly-popular classical revival elements such as Ionic columns. The interior retains a number of original architectural elements, and the early garage at the rear originally housed Angus MacDonald’s Cadillac, one of the first known automobiles owned by a Burnaby resident. Constructed in 1909, this house was built for Angus MacDonald (1857-1943) and his wife, Margaret Isabella Thompson MacDonald (1862-1939). Angus MacDonald, an electrical contractor, relocated from Nova Scotia to Vancouver in 1891 and served on Vancouver Council from 1904-08. The MacDonald family moved to Burnaby upon his retirement from the B.C. Electric Railway Company, and he then served the North Burnaby Ward as a councillor from 1911-1916 and again in 1921. MacDonald Street in Burnaby was named in his honour. The MacDonald House has additional significance as one of the surviving landmark residences, built between 1909 and 1914, during the first development of Vancouver Heights. In 1909, C.J. Peter and his employer, G.F. and J. Galt Limited, initiated the development of this North Burnaby neighbourhood, promoting it as one of the most picturesque districts in the region and an alternative to the CPR’s prestigious Shaughnessy Heights development in Vancouver. Buyers were obligated to build houses worth $3,500 at a time when the average house price was $1,000. Reputed to be the second house built in the subdivision, this house cost $7,000 to build.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the MacDonald House include its: - prominent corner location in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood, with views to Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains - residential form, scale and massing as exemplified by its two and one-half storey height, full basement, compound plan, and high hipped roof with gabled projections at the front and side - wood-frame construction including wooden lapped siding, trim and mouldings - rubble-stone granite foundation - Queen Anne Revival details such as scroll-cut modillions, octagonal corner turret, wraparound, clamshell verandah with classical columns, and projecting square and semi-octagonal bays - external red-brick chimney with corbelled top - original windows including double-hung, 1-over-1 wooden sash windows in single and double assembly, and arched-top casement windows in the gable peaks - original interior features such as the main staircase, a panelled dining room with a fireplace and built-in cabinets, a living room with a parquet floor, and a rear den with an oak mantle and tiled hearth - associated early wood-frame garage at the rear of the property - landscape features such as mature coniferous and deciduous trees surrounding the property
Historic Neighbourhood
Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Burnaby Heights Area
Organization
British Columbia Mills Timber and Trading Company
Function
Primary Historic--Single Dwelling
Primary Current--Single Dwelling
Community
Vancouver Heights
Cadastral Identifier
P.I.D.011-999-462
Boundaries
The MacDonald House is comprised of a single residential lot located at 3814 Oxford Street, Burnaby.
Area
566.71
Contributing Resource
Building
Ownership
Private
Documentation
City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, Heritage Site Files
Names
Macdonald, Angus
British Columbia Mills Timber and Trading Company
Street Address
3814 Oxford Street
Street View URL
Google Maps Street View
Images
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Interview with Ethel Lewarne and Beverley Burrell 24-Jun-75 - Track 1

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory50
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date Range
1899-1923
Length
0:08:23
Summary
This portion of the interview pertains to Ethel Lewarne's childhood years living in Burnaby, through her first years of marriage.
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Summary
This portion of the interview pertains to Ethel Lewarne's childhood years living in Burnaby, through her first years of marriage.
Date Range
1899-1923
Photo Info
Leer family; Ethel Leer Lewarne is standing on the far right, 1911. Item no. 204-052
Length
0:08:23
Subjects
Occupations - Grocers
Historic Neighbourhood
Alta Vista (Historic Neighbourhood)
Interviewer
Bradbury, Dr. Bettina
Interview Date
24-Jun-75
Scope and Content
Recording is a taped interview with Ethel (Leer) Lewarne and Beverley (Lewarne) Burrell by SFU (Simon Fraser University) graduate student Bettina Bradbury June 24, 1975. Major theme discussed is: the Depression. To view "Narrow By" terms for each track expand this description and see "Notes".
Biographical Notes
Ethel Cecilia Leer was born in 1899 in London, England to George Frederick and Sarah Ann Leer. In 1908, the Leer family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada. George Frederick Leer began working for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Ethel’s younger brother George Leer was born about this time. A third child was born but unfortunately did not live past infancy. The Leers arrived in Burnaby in 1911 and bought two lots in Alta Vista at the corner of Portland and McGregor. George Frederick and Sarah Ann were active members of the All Saints Anglican Church on Royal Oak. Ethel went to Dundonald school from 1911 to 1913 with Miss Bowell as her teacher, then on to Britannia High School from 1913 to 1915. Ethel’s father, George Frederick Leer died March 23, 1919 at the age of forty-one. Ethel Cecilia Leer married Alfred Lewarne on December 26, 1921 in Burnaby. Alfred was born February 9, 1893 in Cornwall, England. Before marriage he worked for a creamery in Vancouver. After marriage, Alfred began his own ice cream business in Burnaby. The Lewarnes bought a lot along Nelson Avenue and built a house. Their first child Patricia "Tricia" (later McCleod) was born in 1923, their second was Beverley “Bev” (later Burrell). Their third child, William A. “Bill” Lewarne was born in 1926. Bill grew up to become one of the most popular Mayors in Burnaby’s history, serving from 1981 to 1987. He also served as a member of Council from 1973 to 1975 and 1977 to 1981. After Alfred Lewarne’s death on May 5, 1962 at the age of sixty-nine, Ethel continued living in the family home. Ethel’s mother, Sarah Ann Leer died May 11, 1963 at the age of eighty-seven.
Total Tracks
8
Total Length
1:00:59
Interviewee Name
Lewarne, Ethel Leer
Burrell, Beverley "Bev" Lewarne
Interviewer Bio
Bettina Bradbury teaches history and women's studies at York University. She is the author of Wife to Widow. Lives, Laws and Politics in Nineteenth-century Montreal. (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, June 2011), 520p; Working Families. Age, Gender and Daily Survival in Industrializing Montreal. (Toronto: Canadian Social History Series, McClelland and Stewart, 1993); (Republished Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996) (3rd edition, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007). These interviews were undertaken after she completed her MA at Simon Fraser University in 1975 with the support of an LIP grant.
Collection/Fonds
Burnaby Historical Society fonds
Series
Community Archives Collection series
Subseries
Oral history subseries
Transcript Available
None
Media Type
Sound Recording
Web Notes
Interview was digitized in 2010 allowing it to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council and the BC History Digitization Program of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia. It was recognized by the Heritage Society of BC with an award in 2012.
Images
Audio Tracks

Track one of interview with Ethel Lewarne and Beverley Burrell

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