2 records – page 1 of 1.

H.T. Ceperley Estate 'Fairacres' Mansion

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark526
Repository
Burnaby Heritage Planning
Description
'Fairacres' is a large, two-and-one-half storey estate house in the British Arts and Crafts style, located in Deer Lake Park, with four associated original outbuildings.
Associated Dates
1911
Formal Recognition
Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
Other Names
Henry Tracy & Grace Ceperley Estate
Burnaby Art Gallery
Street View URL
Google Maps Street View
Repository
Burnaby Heritage Planning
Other Names
Henry Tracy & Grace Ceperley Estate
Burnaby Art Gallery
Geographic Access
Deer Lake Avenue
Associated Dates
1911
Formal Recognition
Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
Enactment Type
Bylaw No. 9807
Enactment Date
23/11/1992
Description
'Fairacres' is a large, two-and-one-half storey estate house in the British Arts and Crafts style, located in Deer Lake Park, with four associated original outbuildings.
Heritage Value
'Fairacres' is important as a record of the early years of Burnaby, specifically the Deer Lake area, as a place of tranquility and beautiful scenery in which the wealthy and successful in the burgeoning cities of New Westminster and Vancouver chose to retire or to make their family homes. The main house, which anchors in style and setting the outbuildings on the estate, demonstrates the social, cultural, and aesthetic values of local wealthy businessmen and women of the early twentieth century - values such as appreciation of architectural elegance and grand interior spaces, leisure and recreation, formal landscaped gardens and scenic views. Also important is the association with the English-born and trained architect Robert Mackay Fripp (1858-1917), as this was one of his grandest residential commissions. Steeped in the current architectural trends in Great Britain, Fripp designed this sprawling mansion in the Arts and Crafts style, reflected in the architectural detailing and proportions. The style was common at the time and was often used for estate mansions as a symbol of affluence and good, modern taste as well as an affinity for all things British. Quality is displayed inside and out in the finishes and materials, orchestrated by prominent local contractor, James Charles Allen, including imported English materials of specific value such as imported Medmenham tiles in the fireplace surrounds, one of the earliest documented use of these tiles outside the United Kingdom. Detailed features of the interior woodwork were carved by Scottish-born master wood carver George Selkirk Gibson (1867-1942), who was best known for his many commissions for prominent British Columbia architect Samuel Maclure. The outbuildings at 'Fairacres' are an important record of the functioning of a large estate of the time. The Garage and Stables and the Chauffeur’s Cottage accommodated the use of automobiles, horses and carriages, and in concert with the estate's location near the new British Columbia Electric Railway 'Burnaby Lake' interurban line, illustrate the evolving nature of regional transportation and the growing bedroom communities and estates made possible by increasing options for transportation. Other outbuildings accommodated the agricultural activities that helped support the Ceperley estate. The estate was conceived and funded by American-born Grace E. Dixon Ceperley (1863-1917), who had achieved significant wealth through a bequest from her brother-in-law, Vancouver pioneer Arthur Ferguson. Her husband, Henry Tracy Ceperley (1850-1929), also American-born, was a successful and well-respected businessman who made a significant contribution to the development of the City of Vancouver. The construction of 'Fairacres' spawned the transformation of the Deer Lake area from a farming community into a preferred location for elite suburban homes. 'Fairacres' is significant to the City of Burnaby as its first civic heritage conservation project. Acquired in 1966 for conversion to Burnaby’s first art gallery, it was dedicated in 1967 to mark Canada’s Centennial of Confederation.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the ‘Fairacres’ mansion include its: - setting in relation to the gardens, its former market garden, and the vistas to Deer Lake and other grand homes in the area - side gable roof with prominent dormers and cedar shingle cladding - verandah across the eastern (garden) facade, with its view over the landscaped gardens and the distant mountains - porte cochere with its side steps for those arriving by automobile, and central raised step for those alighting from horse-drawn carriages - rich variety of exterior elements that demonstrate the typical Arts and Crafts use of local materials such as cobble stone chimneys and foundations, wide wooden siding and half-timbering - mixture of double-hung and casement wooden-sash windows, many with multi-paned sash - lavish interior spaces, designed for entertaining on a grand scale, including a billiard room with a beamed ceiling and an inglenook fireplace, and generous living and dining rooms arranged off a central hall - quality of the interior materials such as imported Medmenham tiles in fireplace surrounds, window hardware by Hope and Sons, and leaded stained glass - interior wood work including the staircase, and carvings by George Selkirk Gibson - remaining formal Edwardian garden landscape elements, including the cross-axial plan that reflects the relationship of the mansion to its 'outdoor rooms'
Locality
Deer Lake Park
Historic Neighbourhood
Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Douglas-Gilpin Area
Architect
Robert Mackay Fripp
Builder
James Charles Allen
George Selkirk Gibson
Function
Primary Current--Museum
Primary Historic--Estate
Community
Burnaby
Cadastral Identifier
P.I.D. No. 004-493-311 Legal Description: Block 3 Except: Part subdivided by Plan 26865, District Lot 79, Group 1, New Westminster District, Plan 536
Boundaries
‘Fairacres’ is comprised of a single municipally-owned property located at 6344 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby.
Area
17,065.00
Contributing Resource
Building
Landscape Feature
Ownership
Public (local)
Other Collection
City of Burnaby, Visual Art Collection: Original rendering by R.P.S. Twizell Burnaby Historical Society, Community Archives: Ceperley Photograph Album Burnaby Village Museum, Collection: Carved dining room panels by G.S. Gibson and other hardware items
Documentation
Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
Names
Ceperley, Grace
Ceperley, H.T.
Fripp, Robert Mackay
Allen, James Charles
Gibson, George Selkirk
Subjects
Buildings - Heritage
Buildings - Residential - Houses
Buildings - Residential
Street Address
6344 Deer Lake Avenue
Street View URL
Google Maps Street View
Images
Less detail

Personal material

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription82732
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
[1910-1978]
Collection/Fonds
Hazel Simnett collection
Description Level
File
Physical Description
9 paintings : colour print, 2 photographs : b&w, and 1 folder of textual records
Scope and Content
File consists of application for a driver's license, Kingsway Driving School report card, driver's examination receipt and a letter addressed to Hazel Simnett from the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada. Also included is an immigration inspection card of Fred Simnett aboard the S.S. Lake Champlai…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
[1910-1978]
Collection/Fonds
Hazel Simnett collection
Series
Simnett personal papers series
Physical Description
9 paintings : colour print, 2 photographs : b&w, and 1 folder of textual records
Description Level
File
Record No.
MSS167-008
Accession Number
2013-22
Scope and Content
File consists of application for a driver's license, Kingsway Driving School report card, driver's examination receipt and a letter addressed to Hazel Simnett from the Victorian Order of Nurses for Canada. Also included is an immigration inspection card of Fred Simnett aboard the S.S. Lake Champlain from Liverpool and a letter from the Office of the Mayor addressed to Mary Ann Simnett for her ninetieth birthday. Also included is a photograph (see item 559-001). Also included are newsclippings regarding Robert Burnaby and the "Bygones of Burnaby" book, a programme of the Robert Burnaby Commemorative Dinner, a photocopy of "The Argus" (Burnaby South High School's newspaper) from 1938, a programme from Madys Pridmore Brown's Variety Programme, "The Buzzer" Volume 40 Issue 16 advertising Vancouver street cars, New Vista Society certificate addressed to Hazel Simnett, an envelope of Fenwick Lansdowne bird prints from 1957 and a print of the Royal Family found in a cardboard envelope postmarked 1972.
Subjects
Arts - Paintings
Documentary Artifacts - Newspapers
Documentary Artifacts - Photographs
Performances - Concerts
Organizations - Societies and Clubs
Personal Symbols - Certificates
Transportation
Persons - Royalty
Names
Simnett, Hazel
Simnett, Frederick "Fred"
Simnett, Mary Ann
Lansdowne, James Fenwick
Media Type
Textual Record
Photograph
Graphic Material
Notes
Title based on note accompanying file on folder ; The Argue was stapled together
Simnett personal papers series
Historic Neighbourhood
Alta-Vista (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Clinton-Glenwood Area
Less detail