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Overlynn Mansion
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/landmark520
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- Overlynn Mansion is a two and one-half storey British Arts and Crafts mansion, with an exterior composed of a massive native granite rubble-stone base surmounted by distinctive half-timbering, a hip hipped roof, a rare surviving intact interior, and elaborate landscape features including stone wall…
- Associated Dates
- 1909
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Charles J. Peter Mansion
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Charles J. Peter Mansion
- Geographic Access
- McGill Street
- Associated Dates
- 1909
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 10211
- Enactment Date
- 18/09/1995
- Description
- Overlynn Mansion is a two and one-half storey British Arts and Crafts mansion, with an exterior composed of a massive native granite rubble-stone base surmounted by distinctive half-timbering, a hip hipped roof, a rare surviving intact interior, and elaborate landscape features including stone walls and planted terraces. It is situated in the residential neighbourhood of Vancouver Heights, on a high point of land overlooking Burrard Inlet to the west and the mouth of Lynn Creek to the east. This prominent residence is now part of a large senior citizens development known as Seton Villa.
- Heritage Value
- Overlynn Mansion is valued as a superb example of the work of the noted architectural firm of Maclure and Fox. The architecture of Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) was synonymous with high quality residential design for prominent citizens in both Vancouver and Victoria. Maclure was known for his British Arts and Crafts style with meticulous attention paid to functional and beautiful interiors that utilized native wood combined with luxurious imported fittings. He was a leading exponent of the Art and Crafts design movement in B.C., and established a sophisticated local variation of residential architecture. Maclure’s Vancouver office, in association with his partner Cecil Croker Fox (1879-1916), received some sixty residential commissions between 1909-1915 as a result of the booming local economy and subsequent development of new residential districts. Maclure’s practice in Victoria was equally prolific at the time. Overlynn Mansion is valued as one of Burnaby’s oldest upper-class estates and for its association with the development of Vancouver Heights. In 1909, C.J. Peter and his employer, G.F. and J. Galt Limited, pioneered the development of Vancouver Heights in North Burnaby, believing it to be one of the most picturesque districts in area 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. Overlynn Mansion, built in 1909 for $75,000, was one of the first houses constructed in Vancouver Heights and by far the most grandiose and impressive. Additionally, this landmark residence is significant and an intact and comprehensive representation of a grand Edwardian era estate home. The interior is notably intact, and retains many highly-refined original features, including substantive millwork of exotic woods, silver-plated and nickel-plated light fixtures, fine plasterwork, tiled fireplaces and exceptional hardware. Landscape features of Overlynn Mansion include the original layout for circulation paths, a porte-cochere, granite posts and stone walls, a sandstone and iron sundial, and mature trees and shrubbery. The house was designated by Burnaby Council in 1995 and was the first heritage building in B.C. to receive legal protection for its interior features.
- Defining Elements
- Key elements that define the heritage character of Overlynn Mansion include its: - prominent corner location on a steep sloping site in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood - views to Burrard Inlet and the North Shore mountains - residential form, scale and massing as exemplified by its grand two-storey plus basement height and irregular plan - British Arts and Crafts elements such as the rubble-stone granite masonry on the ground floor and foundation level, and decorative half-timbering and rough-cast stucco on the upper storey - compound hipped bell-cast roof, clad with cedar shingles, with shed dormers at the rear - subtle battering of ground floor and foundation level stonework - porte-cochere with hipped roof and battered granite piers - wood-clad projecting bay extensions - irregular fenestration: double-hung 6-over-1 wooden-sash windows; multi-pane casement wooden windows with multi-pane transoms; diamond leaded casement windows; and banks of stained glass windows - five tall rubble-stone granite block stone chimneys - interior features such as the oak, cedar and Yaka (Australian mahogany) panelled walls, oak panelling and staircase walls inlaid with ebony, ivory and brass, stenciled canvas friezes, wooden dadoes and plaster walls, encaustic floor tiles, Australian gumwood floors, oak panelled doors with art glass, oak beamed ceiling with stucco panels, cast plaster vaulted hall and living room ceilings, sterling silver light fixtures including a chandelier and scones, nickel-plated newel light, brass Art Nouveau styled ceiling light, brass stair carpet poles and locks, built-in bookcases and buffet, fireplace with encaustic tiles and fire dogs, imported Medmenham fireplace tiles (the earliest known use outside of the United Kingdom), fireplace mantel with green tile and cast iron firebox, and inglenook fireplace with encaustic tiles and carved mantel and brass fireplace insert - landscape features such as the granite gate posts and iron entrance gate, granite posts and iron fence, granite garden wall, sandstone garden steps, sandstone and iron sundial, granite and concrete terraces adjacent to the house, configuration of pathways and sandstone steps including the front access road, mature deciduous and coniferous tree stock including a Monkey Puzzle Tree and pruned shrubbery throughout the site
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Organization
- G.F. and J. Galt Limited
- Architect
- Samuel Maclure
- Cecil Croker Fox
- Function
- Primary Historic--Estate
- Primary Current--Multiple Dwelling
- Community
- Burnaby
- Cadastral Identifier
- 004-943-295
- Boundaries
- Overlynn Mansion is a part of a single institutional lot located at 3755 McGill Street, Burnaby.
- Area
- 7912.77
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3755 McGill Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Images
![Burnaby Alderman, Bill (William) Lewarne, [1973]. Item no. 231-012 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/205/231-012.jpg?width=280)
Interview with William A. Lewarne by Rod Fowler March 14, 1990 - Track 2
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/oralhistory442
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date Range
- 1893-1944
- Length
- 00:05:35
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Bill Lewarne’s parents’ history (Ethel Leer and Alfred Lewarne) and growing up in South Burnaby.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Summary
- This portion of the interview is about Bill Lewarne’s parents’ history (Ethel Leer and Alfred Lewarne) and growing up in South Burnaby.
- Date Range
- 1893-1944
- Photo Info
- Burnaby Alderman, Bill (William) Lewarne, [1973]. Item no. 231-012
- Length
- 00:05:35
- Names
- Lewarne, Ethel Leer
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Alta-Vista (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Sussex-Nelson Area
- Interviewer
- Fowler, Rod
- Interview Date
- March 14, 1990
- Scope and Content
- Recording is of an interview with former Mayor William “Bill” Lewarne, conducted by Rod Fowler. Bill Lewarne was one of eleven participants interviewed as part of the SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee's oral history series titled, "Voices of Burnaby". The interview is mainly about Bill Lewarne’s business and political careers, and memories of growing up in South Burnaby in the 1930s. Bill Lewarne talks about his parent’s origins, his family and community struggles during the Depression, the interurban, his education, war service, and joining his father's business. He describes the start, operation and expansion of the family ice cream business, and how business life compared to political life. The interview explores the role of politics in community affairs, his political activities, the history of the BVA, and his involvement in various community organizations. To view “Narrow By” terms for each track, expand this description and see “Notes”.
- Biographical Notes
- William Alfred “Bill” Lewarne was born in Burnaby in 1926 to Ethel Cecilia Leer (1899- ) and Alfred Lewarne (1893-1962). The family, Ethel, Alfred and their three children Patricia, Beverley and William, moved to a house on Nelson Avenue in Alta Vista in 1931. Ethel still lived in the family home in 1990. Bill Lewarne attended Nelson Avenue School and South Burnaby High School (1932-1944). His father Alfred worked at Colony Farms as a dairy inspector and then for the Port of Vancouver Dairy before being laid off early in the Depression. The family struggled until in 1936 Alfred started his own ice cream business. After graduation Bill was in the army for two years, taking a refrigeration course under the veteran’s training benefit, before joining his father’s business. Three generations of the family operated the successful company, expanding from wholesale, retail and distribution of ice cream products into refrigerated warehouses and the wholesale ice business, until the business was sold to its competitor Dairyland in 1989. Bill Lewarne entered politics in 1965, first with the Nonpartisan Association (NPA) and then as a founder of the Burnaby Citizens Association (BCA). He served as an alderman on Burnaby Council 1973-1975 and 1977-1981 and as Mayor 1981-1987. In 1979 he ran for provincial office for the Social Credit Party against Rosemary Brown but lost. Bill Lewarne married June Lawrence and they had three children Robert, Leslie and Janice. He was active in many organizations: Burnaby/Willingdon Liberal Association, Seton Villa, Irish Fusileers of Canada, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion, and the Burnaby Hospital Foundation, and continued to be active on the Board of the BCA. Bill Lewarne died in 1995.
- Total Tracks
- 14
- Total Length
- 1:34:40
- Interviewee Name
- Lewarne, William A. "Bill"
- Interviewer Bio
- Rod Fowler returned to university as a mature student in the 1980s after working about twenty years in the field of economics and business computerization in England, Europe and Western Canada. He graduated with a BA from SFU in both History and Sociology in 1987, his MA degree in Geography in 1989, and his PhD in Cultural Geography at SFU. He taught courses in Geography, Sociology, History and Canadian Studies at several Lower Mainland colleges, before becoming a full time member of the Geography Department at Kwantlen University College.
- Collection/Fonds
- SFU/Burnaby Centennial Committee fonds
- Transcript Available
- Transcript available
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Web Notes
- Interviews were digitized in 2015 allowing them to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council.
Images
![Burnaby Alderman, Bill (William) Lewarne, [1973]. Item no. 231-012 thumbnail](/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Images/_Unrestricted/205/231-012.jpg)
Audio Tracks
Track two of interview with Bill Lewarne
Track two of interview with Bill Lewarne
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_Archives_Oral_Histories/_Unrestricted/MSS187-019/MSS187-019_Track_2.mp3