2 records – page 1 of 1.

R.M. Edgar House

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark543
Repository
Burnaby Heritage Planning
Description
The R.M. Edgar House is a particularly large wood-frame Craftsman-inspired bungalow on the south shore of Deer Lake, built as a family estate home. It has a symmetrical front elevation, a deep wrap-around verandah, and a pyramidal roof with massive dormers on each face. Set on a large lot and isola…
Associated Dates
1912
Formal Recognition
Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
Other Names
Robert McBeth & Maude Edgar Residence
Repository
Burnaby Heritage Planning
Other Names
Robert McBeth & Maude Edgar Residence
Geographic Access
Deer Lake Drive
Associated Dates
1912
Formal Recognition
Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
Enactment Type
Bylaw No. 9807
Enactment Date
23/11/1992
Description
The R.M. Edgar House is a particularly large wood-frame Craftsman-inspired bungalow on the south shore of Deer Lake, built as a family estate home. It has a symmetrical front elevation, a deep wrap-around verandah, and a pyramidal roof with massive dormers on each face. Set on a large lot and isolated from its neighbours, the house is surrounded by a manicured naturalistic landscape.
Heritage Value
The R.M. Edgar House represents an alternative reading of the aesthetic and lifestyle values of those who settled on these lakeside estates in the early twentieth century. By comparison with the grand mansions, set in formally landscaped gardens, on the north shore of Deer Lake, the R.M. Edgar House demonstrates a reverence for the natural, wooded environs, and a deliberate orientation near a stream running through the property. The house is important for its connection with Robert McBeth Edgar, not only a successful and wealthy businessman (partner in the real estate firm Hampton and Edgar) but also an active supporter of the Liberal party, Dominion Returning Officer for Vancouver, and Burnaby Councillor for six years; his contribution to Burnaby and British Columbia was far-reaching and significant. The house illustrates the desire for a simpler lifestyle and retreat into nature of those who settled on the south shore of Deer Lake and also this community's attraction for those of an artistic temperament. Maude Edgar was a poet and broadcaster; and the Edgar's daughter - Ann, known as 'Bebe' - was an accomplished sculptress. This was the first house built on the south shore of Deer Lake.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the R.M. Edgar House include its: - overall bungalow massing and its location facing Deer Lake and backing onto a wilderness of Douglas Fir and moss-covered rocks, with a stream running through the site - remnants of the original landscaping such as the box hedge, rockeries and granite retaining walls - the surrounding naturalistic landscape augmented by ornamental cedars, maples, and rhododendrons - square floor plan with a deep enclosed verandah under a prominent broad hipped roof - symmetrical gable dormers - internal brick chimneys, including one at the centre peak of the roof - Craftsman-influenced exterior with such characteristics as: woodwork brackets on the square verandah pillars; deep overhanging roof eaves; and exposed rafter tails - multiple-assembly 12-paned casement wooden-sash windows in the dormers with 6-paned transoms - rustic Arts and Crafts interior with such items as Douglas fir paneling and large granite fireplace in the Drawing Room
Locality
Deer Lake Park
Historic Neighbourhood
Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
Planning Study Area
Morley-Buckingham Area
Function
Primary Current--Single Dwelling
Primary Historic--Estate
Community
Burnaby
Cadastral Identifier
P.I.D. No. 001-178-024 and P.I.D. No. 001-178-016 Legal Description: Parcel 'D' (Explanatory Plan 4272) District Lot 85, Group 1, New Westminster District and Parcel 'W' (Explanatory Plan 255) District Lot 85, Group 1, New Westminster District
Boundaries
The R.M. Edgar House is comprised of a single municipally-owned property located at 6450 Deer Lake Drive, Burnaby.
Area
11,661.30
Contributing Resource
Building
Landscape Feature
Ownership
Public (local)
Documentation
Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
Street Address
6450 Deer Lake Drive
Images
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Doreen Lawson fonds

https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription58356
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1950-2002
Collection/Fonds
Doreen Lawson fonds
Description Level
Fonds
Physical Description
18 cm of textual records + approx. 1000 photographs
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created and received by Doreen Lawson during her career as Parks Commissioner (1965-1971), Burnaby City Council member (1972-1985, 1990-1999) and environmental advocate following her retirement from Council in 1999. Records include election campaign materials, congratulat…
Repository
City of Burnaby Archives
Date
1950-2002
Collection/Fonds
Doreen Lawson fonds
Physical Description
18 cm of textual records + approx. 1000 photographs
Description Level
Fonds
Accession Number
2003-30
2015-15
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created and received by Doreen Lawson during her career as Parks Commissioner (1965-1971), Burnaby City Council member (1972-1985, 1990-1999) and environmental advocate following her retirement from Council in 1999. Records include election campaign materials, congratulatory letters and correspondence, community speeches and slideshow presentations regarding the conservation of Burnaby Lake, the administrative papers of the Burnaby Centennial Rhododendron and Spring Flower Show Society, and photographs of Burnaby waterways and wildlife.
History
Doreen Anne Fowler Lawson was born July 8, 1928, to Eva Barnhill and Leonard Fowler. Her parents met in Alberta but decided to move to Vancouver where they got married and Doreen was born. The family moved to the north side of Claude Avenue in Burnaby when Doreen was a few months old. In 1931, they moved to a house with an acre of land directly across the street from their first house.
When Doreen was six, her family moved to Collingwood, Vancouver, near where her father grew up. This is where her brother Ron was born. The family moved again to County Line in Langley Prairie in 1944, which is where Doreen met Edward Lawson, her future husband. Soon after, they moved to a seven-acre plot in Burquitlam. Ed and Doreen Lawson’s eldest daughter, Linda, was born in 1954. Their second daughter, Wendy, was born in 1959 and their youngest, Lisa, was born in 1961. They lived in the Brentwood area, where all three daughters attended Brentwood Elementary School. Linda went on to Alpha Secondary School.
In 1945, Doreen began her first of several office jobs, and in the early 1950s she became the first woman to be elected into a vice-president position within the BC Trade Union Congress (now the BC Federation of Labour).
Doreen Lawson had a long and prolific political career, starting as Parks Commissioner in 1965, and serving as its chair from 1969 to 1971. She was instrumental in the selection and promotion of the rhododendron as the official flower of Burnaby in 1966. In 1971, she was elected to Burnaby City Council and, in 1972, Doreen proposed that Council take action to declare Burnaby Lake a wildlife sanctuary. After a 10-year campaign, she was able to convince Council to declare the park “a nature conservation area.” She put forward a policy of preservation for creeks and streams, as well as a proposal to preserve trees in subdivisions, both of which were adopted by Council. Doreen continued to serve on Council until 1985, during which time she initiated and chaired the Burnaby Information Committee, which designed the present Burnaby logo (and official flower pins) and established the Information Burnaby Newsletter. In 1979 Doreen Lawson won Vancouver Natural History Society’s Frank Sanford Award.
In 1984, Doreen was elected the first woman president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Doreen ran as a BC Liberal Party candidate in the new Federal Riding of Burnaby in 1979, and from 1985 to 1987, she served as the Executive Director of the British Columbia Liberal Party. As the B.C. Liberal Party Executive Director, her major responsibility was to work with both the Federal and Provincial Associations in implementing riding organizations and fundraising programs in preparation for election time. In the 1980s, Doreen was an active guest lecturer at Burnaby Elementary and High Schools as well as at the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Doreen was active in a variety of community clubs and organizations including: the Burnaby Library Board; Greater Vancouver Spinners and Weavers Guild; and Vancouver Natural History Society. She was an executive member of the Burnaby-New Westminster Canada Summer Games; the Burnaby Division of the United Way; Information Burnaby Committee; and the Brentwood Parent Teachers Association; as well as serving as the President of the Burnaby Voters Association from 1988-1990.
In 1990, Doreen was elected back to Burnaby Council and put forward the rejuvenation of Burnaby Lake which she saw completed before her final year on Council in 1999. Doreen continued to be a strong environmental advocate for the protection and rejuvenation of Burnaby Lake after she retired from council.
Doreen Lawson died October 11, 2003.
Media Type
Textual Record
Photograph
Creator
Lawson, Doreen A.
Notes
Title based on contents of fonds
MSS071, photo catalogue 605, photo catalogue 618
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