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Dr. William & Ruth Baldwin House
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark534
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- The Dr. William & Ruth Baldwin House is a two-storey modern post-and-beam structure, located on the southern shore of Deer Lake in Burnaby's Deer Lake Park. The site is steeply sloped, and the main entrance of the house is at the top of the slope facing onto Deer Lake Drive.
- Associated Dates
- 1965
- Formal Recognition
- Community Heritage Register
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Deer Lake Drive
- Associated Dates
- 1965
- Formal Recognition
- Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Council Resolution
- Enactment Date
- 26/05/2003
- Description
- The Dr. William & Ruth Baldwin House is a two-storey modern post-and-beam structure, located on the southern shore of Deer Lake in Burnaby's Deer Lake Park. The site is steeply sloped, and the main entrance of the house is at the top of the slope facing onto Deer Lake Drive.
- Heritage Value
- The Baldwin House is valued as a prime example of Burnaby’s post-Second World War modern heritage and progressive architectural style, as well as for its personal connections to internationally-acclaimed architect, Arthur Erickson. Inspired by the modern domestic idiom established earlier in the twentieth century by Frank Lloyd Wright and Richard Neutra, Erickson conceived his architecture as responding directly to the site. A cohesive expression of simple orthogonal lines and ultimate transparency, this structure reduces the idea of post-and-beam West Coast modernism to its most refined elements. A fine example of the evolving talent of Erickson’s earlier work, this house is a landmark modern house in Burnaby and is unique in terms of siting and context. Having just won the 1963 competition for the new Simon Fraser University in Burnaby with his partner, Geoff Massey, and having built fewer than half a dozen homes previously, Erickson’s reputation was growing and his skill as a designer of modern buildings was in great demand. The same year that Erickson/Massey Architects designed SFU, Dr. William Baldwin and his wife, Ruth, personal friends of Erickson, commissioned him to design this house. Erickson was already familiar with the site; as a child he had spent time at this spot when his family visited friends who lived on Deer Lake. Both the Baldwin House and the university were completed in 1965. SFU became internationally famous; the Baldwin House was also considered an architectural success and was recognized in publications of the time. Only a single storey of this two-storey house is visible from the road, as it is built into the hillside in response to its steep site and proximity to Deer Lake. Like many other Erickson designs, this structure was conceived as a pavilion. Constructed of glass and wood, its transparency facilitates visual access to the lake’s edge, acting as an invitation, rather than a barrier, to the landscape. The house blends into the natural surroundings and the site includes other man-made landscape features such as a reflecting pool. As a reaction to the often grey quality of light in the region, Erickson exploits flat planes of water as a source of borrowed light. The refined and purposeful design, transparency, openness of plan and adjacency to the lake combine to give the house a floating appearance at the water's edge. The concept of a floating house set within an accompanying garden was inspired, in part, by the palaces and house boats of Dal Lake in Kashmir and the famed nearby Mughal Gardens. Although Erickson never visited Dal Lake, he travelled extensively throughout India, and specifically mentions the Kashmir reference in relation to this house. There is a rich complexity of other allusions worked into the fabric of the house, unified by a feeling for the conjunction of light, water and land at this special location. Widely renowned as Canada’s most brilliant modern architect, Erickson’s reputation is important to the development and growth of modern architecture in Canada and North America.
- Defining Elements
- The elements of the Baldwin House that define its character are those materials and details which respond to the location of the building and determine the relation between landscape and building, combining to create a single cohesive site. These include its: - close proximity to water - orthogonal plan and massing, with flat tar-and-gravel roof - stepped down massing orienting the house towards the water - post-and-beam construction, with the width of the beams matched to the width of the posts - wood and glass used as primary building materials - transparency and light achieved by the abundant use of glass - large undivided sheets of single glazing - butt glazed glass corners - abundant and generous balconies, which blur the transition from interior to exterior - horizontal flush cedar siding - use of salvaged brick for chimneys - use of chains as downspouts - built-in rooftop barbeque - built in furniture and fittings dating to the time of construction, such as original hardware, benches, bathroom vanities and kitchen cabinets - landscaped site including reflecting pool, plantings and a dock protruding into the lake
- Locality
- Deer Lake Park
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Morley-Buckingham Area
- Function
- Primary Current--Single Dwelling
- Primary Historic--Single Dwelling
- Community
- Burnaby
- Cadastral Identifier
- P.I.D. No. 011-946-032 and P.I.D. No. 011-946-067
- Boundaries
- The Baldwin House is comprised of two municipally-owned lots located at 6543 and 6545 Deer Lake Drive, Burnaby.
- Area
- 6,070.20
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Landscape Feature
- Ownership
- Public (local)
- Other Collection
- Canadian Architectural Archives, University of Calgary, Collection: Original Plans No. ERI 4A/76.13
- Documentation
- Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
- Street Address
- 6543 Deer Lake Drive
Images
First Meeting of St. Alban's Church Ladies' Guild
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription1082
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1913]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 4.9 x 9.4 cm mounted on paper 8.9 x 12.6 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a group of women dressed in fine clothes and hats, with a few children held by the women. A priest is standing by them. According to the note attached to the photograph, the photo was taken outside of the Guild Room of St. Alban's Anglican Church. The note dates this picture ca. 19…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 4.9 x 9.4 cm mounted on paper 8.9 x 12.6 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a group of women dressed in fine clothes and hats, with a few children held by the women. A priest is standing by them. According to the note attached to the photograph, the photo was taken outside of the Guild Room of St. Alban's Anglican Church. The note dates this picture ca. 1913, and identifies the ladies as, row four: [unidentified], Mrs. Edgar Sprott, Mrs. H.J. Burnett, Mrs. G.B.E. Rowe, Mrs. Garpin, Mrs. L.C. Hill, and Mrs. E. Godwin. Row three: Rev. Fane Edge, Miss Hart, Miss Baker, Miss Nicholls with Kathleen Sprott, Mrs. Bird. Row two: Mrs. G.K. Burnett, Mrs. Roberts and daughter Sylvia, [unidentified], Mrs. F.J. Peers, Miss K. Schou, and [unidentified] (standing). Row one: Mary Sprott, Mrs Langford, Mrs. C.R. Gordon, Mrs. R.D. Travers, [unidentified], [unidentified], and Mrs. Short [?] (standing). Notes regarding the church from the catalogue record of 1976 read: "On May 1907, Archdeacon Pentreath announced the formation of an ecclesiastical parish in south east Burnaby. The land for the church and Hall was donated by W.J. Walker. In the spring of 1909 the Church of St. Alban the Martyr was completed (renovated in 1974-75 but on same site). The building was consecrated on April 14th 1909. The first rector was Rev. David Dunlop, formerly of St. Mary's Church Sapperton. The first confirmation was held in May 1911."
- Names
- Baker, Miss
- Bird, Mrs.
- Burnett, Mrs. H.J.
- Edge, Fane
- Garpin, Mrs.
- Godwin, Mrs. E.
- Godwin, Florence Hart
- Gordon, Mrs. C.R.
- Hill, Annie Sara Kenrick
- Langford, Mrs.
- Nicholls, Miss
- Peers, Annie Elizabeth Frisby
- Roberts, Sylvia
- Roberts, Mrs.
- Rowe, Mrs. G.B.E.
- Schou, Miss K.
- Short, Mrs.
- Nadin, Kathleen Sprott
- Daniels, Mary Stone Sprott
- Sprott, Helen Louise Faith Nicholls
- St. Alban's Anglican Church
- Travers, Mrs. R.D.
- Geographic Access
- 19th Avenue
- Street Address
- 7717 19th Avenue
- Accession Code
- HV972.51.3
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1913]
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Edmonds (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Edmonds Area
- Scan Resolution
- 600
- Scan Date
- 2023-04-04
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
Images
Deer Lake Drive
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription1085
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1918]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 12.9 x 32.9 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph is a panorama of Deer Lake Drive, including the Ceperley mansion and the surrounding grounds of the home to the left of the picture. The photograph, taken from the water tower, with Burnaby Lake in the background. In the midground, following the horizon line, power poles can be seen. Far…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 12.9 x 32.9 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph is a panorama of Deer Lake Drive, including the Ceperley mansion and the surrounding grounds of the home to the left of the picture. The photograph, taken from the water tower, with Burnaby Lake in the background. In the midground, following the horizon line, power poles can be seen. Farm lands are visible leading down to the homes of the Andersons. An annotation on the back of the photo in pencil reads, "Deer Lake Dr." and an annotation in blue pen reads, "1918."
- Geographic Access
- Deer Lake Drive
- Deer Lake Avenue
- Street Address
- 6344 Deer Lake Avenue
- Accession Code
- HV972.51.12
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1918]
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Douglas-Gilpin Area
- Scan Resolution
- 600
- Scan Date
- 2023-04-04