On December 13, 1912, The British Columbian Weekly described the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood as follows: "The northern portion of the municipality in the vicinity of Boundary Road has during the past three years made tremendous strides towards settlement. At that time Mr. James Herd and Mr. Peters were the only residents of the district...Soon, however, the timber was removed, streets laid out and other conveniences such as water, light and transportation provided... The school population of the district has increased so rapidly that the school has been enlarged twice this year and is at the present time inadequate. About 200 children are attending now. There are three churches in the district and one mission...At present time there are two large blocks containing six stores..."
This building was originally built in 1926 as the Vancouver Heights United Church; a Sunday School was added in 1931, which conformed to the church building’s Romanesque influenced style. This unique Burnaby building has retained its remarkable three-storey tower with buttresses and stepped parapet. It now houses the New Apostolic Church.
Designed to simulate a Norman cottage, the most distinctive feature of this eclectic bungalow is its round entrance tower with a conical shaped roof. Other distinctive features include rolled roof edges clad with steam-bent shingles to resemble a thatched roof, and round-arched windows surrounded with initiation voussoirs. The traditional character reflects the Storybook Cottage movement popular in the years between the two World Wars. It was built for Vincent Esmond Dodd (1913-1985), a plumber and electrician, and his wife Edna Mary Dodd (née Engeseth). Edna continued to live in the house after Vincent’s death in 1985.
The Westridge Neighbourhood of Burnaby was created as a new subdivision during the post-World War Two housing boom in Burnaby. Developed by the C.B. Riley Company, it was laid out in a plan contoured to the shapes of the land and was situated to allow residents easy access to main transportation routes.
This bungalow was built by local farmer William Alexander Mawhinney (1870-1953) and Annie J. Mawhinney (1871-1956). This was one of several houses built in the immediate vicinity by members of the Mawhinney family between 1909 and 1930. William Mawhinney first came to Burnaby to help his brother Isaiah establish his fruit farm. In about 1930, William and Annie Mawhinney built a new house at 6011 Buckingham Avenue. This home is architecturally notable for its unusual front-gabled dormer, which is divided into parallel ridges at its peak. Though the original exterior wall siding has been covered by a later coat of stucco, it otherwise remains in largely original condition including double-hung windows with multi-paned upper sashes, front door with full-length sidelights and a decorative built-in window box.
This elegant house is a prominent local landmark, with a bellcast hipped roof, deep bracketed eaves and Doric porch columns. The use of the various Colonial Revival styles had gained new popularity during the 1920s at the time of the American Sesquicentennial, as is evident in the symmetrical façade composition and detailing. It was the home of William Alexander Blott (1878-1962), a shipper at the Broder Canning Company and later a real estate agent, and his wife Edith Carruthers Blott (née Shaw, 1890-1972), who were married in 1913. It is one of the few remaining larger estate homes along the formerly rural Douglas Road.
This home was built in 1925 by William Leslie Burdick (1878-1937) and Esther Robina Burdick (née Armstrong, 1875-1964) who came to Burnaby from Manitoba to retire. Burdick was a prominent Winnipeg real estate agent; he retired in 1923, and contracted “Sleeping Sickness” the following year, which likely prompted a move to the more temperate west coast. Burdick became Reeve of Burnaby in 1929 and pressed for the development of the Deer Lake area as a great park featuring such amenities as a racetrack and water sports. During his tenure, this Craftsman-style home was regarded as a Burnaby showplace. He died in 1937 and Esther lived in this house until her own death in 1964. While the exterior of the house has been altered by a later coat of stucco over the original siding, it retains many original features such as its full-width verandah with tapered granite columns and piers, and stone-clad foundations and chimney.
Willingdon Heights was another new subdivision developed in Burnaby during the post-World War Two building boom. A brochure about the development published in 1948 proclaimed "the Willingdon Heights 500 home development project in Burnaby fulfills its promise to provide a self-contained community for former members of the armed services and their families...the largest single veteran housing project in Canada as far as homes for individual ownership is concerned, Willingdon Heights development was planned by the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation...At this date the earlier built rows of homes have passable roads and the owners are improving lawns and gardens in spare time...eventually additional stores and professional services will be installed and recreational projects will add to the amenities of a community of congenial residents..."
This school was built to replace Kingsway East School, which became part of Burnaby South High School. Architects Bowman & Cullerne designed the school in 1924; additions were made in 1927. The school features a distinctive double-height gabled entrance, a broad hipped roof and an octagonal rooftop ventilator. The Windsor Street School was designed by the architectural firm of Bowman & Cullerne, who specialized in school design. The firm’s projects include Seaforth School (1922, now relocated to Burnaby Village Museum), Burnaby North High School (1923), and Nelson Avenue School (1927).