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Drs. Blythe and Violet Eagles Estate
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark535
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- The Drs. Blythe and Violet Eagles Estate is a one hectare property located within Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. The property encompasses a carefully conceived garden of local, non-conventional, and exotic plantings. Conceived as a series of rockeries and terraces, the garden cascades from the house do…
- Associated Dates
- 1929
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Eagles Estate Heritage Garden
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Eagles Estate Heritage Garden
- Geographic Access
- Sperling Avenue
- Associated Dates
- 1929
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 11592
- Enactment Date
- 15/09/2003
- Description
- The Drs. Blythe and Violet Eagles Estate is a one hectare property located within Deer Lake Park in Burnaby. The property encompasses a carefully conceived garden of local, non-conventional, and exotic plantings. Conceived as a series of rockeries and terraces, the garden cascades from the house down towards the waterfront, divided by paths and strips of plantings.
- Heritage Value
- The Eagles Estate is significant because of its unique character within Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park heritage precinct, and the people who were its creators and residents. The garden is a unique expression of the talents and tastes of both the Eagles and Frank Ebenezer Buck (1875-1970). Buck served as the Assistant Dominion Horticulturist in charge of landscape horticulture and floriculture in Ottawa from 1912. In 1920, he was head of the Horticultural Department and the Campus Landscape Architect at the University of British Columbia. He established the plan for the Eagles garden while Dr. Blythe Alfred Eagles (1902-1990), the long-time Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at UBC, selected many of the plantings. The Eagles themselves designed the house as a romantic cottage inspired by the British Arts and Crafts style. Trained in enzyme chemistry, Dr. Violet Evelyn (Dunbar) Eagles (1899-1994) was an enthusiastic amateur gardener, and was perhaps the driving force behind the maintenance and continued development of the garden. The Eagles were also well known in Burnaby for their active volunteerism in the local community as well as at UBC. When Simon Fraser University opened in Burnaby as the Greater Vancouver’s second university, the Eagles, in particular Violet, became well-known for entertaining dignitaries and special guests of the university in their lavish garden. Drs. Blythe and Violet Eagles were recognized for their good citizenship and the ongoing use of their garden for charitable Burnaby-based functions and celebrations.
- Defining Elements
- Due to the extensive and varied nature of the garden, the character-defining elements of the Eagles Estate are many and complex. The elements that encompass the character of the site include its: - British Arts and Crafts-inspired house with original exterior features such as a picturesque roofline, stucco cladding and six- and eight-paned steel-frame casement windows, and original interior features such as the central fireplace, wood floors and kitchen cabinetry - formal staircase leading to the north (formal entry) side of the house - carefully planned yet informal garden design, with 'garden rooms' used to create intimacy - terraced landscape cascading from the house down to the garden - incorporation of local, exotic, flowering and non-flowering plants. - contrast of manicured versus freely growing landscape elements - use of wood lattice fencing gates, arbors and trellis
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Morley-Buckingham Area
- Community
- Burnaby
- Cadastral Identifier
- P.I.D. No. 007-302-801 Legal Description: Lot 143, District Lot 85, Group 1, New Westminster District, Plan 36335
- Boundaries
- The Eagles Estate is comprised of a single municipally-owned property located at 5655 Sperling Avenue, Burnaby.
- Area
- 6,403.91
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Landscape Feature
- Documentation
- Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
- Street Address
- 5655 Sperling Avenue
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Images
Interview with Elsie Ansdell by Eric Damer September 18, 2012 - Track 1
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory287
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1910-1946
- Length
- 0:09:17
- Summary
- This portion of the recording pertains to the Brown-Johns first settling in Burnaby. Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell discusses land clearing for the family home, each of her parents and her brothers.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the recording pertains to the Brown-Johns first settling in Burnaby. Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell discusses land clearing for the family home, each of her parents and her brothers.
- Date Range
- 1910-1946
- Photo Info
- Elsie Brown-John (bottom, far right) with her class at Kitchener Street School, [1936]. Item no. 549-001.
- Length
- 0:09:17
- Subjects
- Land Clearing
- Geographic Access
- Napier Street
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Willingdon Heights Area
- Interviewer
- Damer, Eric
- Interview Date
- September 18, 2012
- Scope and Content
- Recording is an interview with early Burnaby resident Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell conducted by Burnaby Village Museum employee Eric Damer, September 18, 2012. Major themes discussed are: settling in Burnaby and the early years of the Brown-John family.
- Biographical Notes
- Elsie (Brown-John) Ansdell’s father, a trained carpenter and cabinet maker, Victor Brown-John came to Canada from Wales in 1910. He cleared three lots at Napier and Gilmore Streets and built a two-roomed house. In 1912, he was joined by his wife and two eldest sons, Victor and Archie. Twin boys, Frank and Roy, were born in 1914 in the Burnaby home and their fifth son, Clive, was born in 1915. From 1916 to 1919 Victor John-Brown left Burnaby to serve overseas. Elsie Brown-John (later Ansdell) was born in 1921. Her younger brother, Gwyn "Jerry" was born in 1923. In 1925 Victor Brown-John suffered a fatal accident while working as a longshoreman in Northern British Columbia. Elsie attended Kitchener Elementary and North Burnaby High School. She married during the Second World War and moved to South Burnaby to raise her family whilst continuing to work in various department stores both in Vancouver and Burnaby.
- Total Tracks
- 4
- Total Length
- 33:02
- Interviewee Name
- Ansdell, Elsie Brown-John
- Interview Location
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Interviewer Bio
- Eric Damer is a lifelong British Columbian born in Victoria, raised in Kamloops, and currently residing in Burnaby. After studying philosophy at the University of Victoria, he became interested in the educational forces that had shaped his own life. He completed master’s and doctoral degrees in educational studies at the University of British Columbia with a particular interest in the history of adult and higher education in the province. In 2012, Eric worked for the City of Burnaby as a field researcher and writer, conducting interviews for the City Archives and Museum Oral History Program.
- Collection/Fonds
- Community Heritage Commission Special Projects fonds
- Transcript Available
- None
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
Images
Audio Tracks
Track one of recording of interview with Elsie Ansdell
Track one of recording of interview with Elsie Ansdell
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS171-001/MSS171-001_Track_1.mp3