Overlooking the rich farmland of the Fraser River floodplain, 'Glen-Lyon' is an Edwardian era rural estate, with a tall, two and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame mansion, set in a pastoral and formal landscape with an associated barn and early log pond, located near a ravine and forested ar…
Overlooking the rich farmland of the Fraser River floodplain, 'Glen-Lyon' is an Edwardian era rural estate, with a tall, two and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame mansion, set in a pastoral and formal landscape with an associated barn and early log pond, located near a ravine and forested area adjacent to Marine Drive in South Burnaby.
Heritage Value
‘Glen-Lyon’ is valued as an excellent example of a privately-owned Edwardian era country estate built at the turn of the nineteenth century. The property retains significant heritage features including the Edwardian era mansion with rustic Arts and Crafts features, and elements of a working agricultural landscape. The property was originally the Royal City Mills logging camp, and in 1900 was purchased by Duncan Campbell McGregor (1853-1929) and Margaret Jane McGregor (1875-1960), who named their estate ‘Glen-Lyon’ after Duncan McGregor’s birthplace in Perthshire, Scotland. The McGregors were active in municipal affairs and social activities, and played a significant role in the early development of Burnaby. Duncan McGregor served as a city councillor from 1909 to 1912 and was elected reeve of Burnaby in 1913. Margaret McGregor was instrumental in the formation and fundraising activities of the Victoria Order of Nurses in Burnaby.
Additionally, the site is historically significant for its association with early social welfare and correctional reform. The estate was sold in 1926 to an inter-denominational religious organization called the Home of the Friendless, which used it as their B.C. headquarters. The organization was charged with several cases of abuse and neglect in 1937, after which a Royal Commission was formed that led to new legislation to regulate and license all private welfare institutions. 'Glen-Lyon' was sold to the provincial government, and was dedicated in 1939 by the Lt.-Gov. E.W. Hamber for use as the New Haven Borstal Home for Boys and Youthful Offenders (later renamed the New Haven Correction Centre). The Borstal movement originated in England in the late nineteenth century, as an alternative to sending young offenders and runaways to prisons by providing reformatories that focused on discipline and vocational skill. This site’s role as the first North American institution devoted to the Borstal School philosophy was historic, and influenced corrections programs across Canada. The site retains significant features from its development in 1939 as the Borstal School, including a large gambrel-roofed barn designed by Chief Provincial Architect Henry Whittaker of the Department of Public Works that is the only remaining structure of its kind in Burnaby. Between 1941 and 1945 the mansion housed the Provincial School for the Deaf and Blind when the Borstal School was closed temporarily as a war measure during the Second World War.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of 'Glen-Lyon' Mansion include its:
- location on a sloping site with expansive southern exposure, adjacent to Marine Drive
- residential form, scale and massing of the house as exemplified by its two and one-half storey height, above-ground basement and rectangular plan
- Arts and Crafts elements of the house such as its stone foundation, multi-gabled roof line with steep central hipped roof, symmetrical cross-gables, side shed dormers, bellcast upper walls sheathed in cedar shingles and lower walls sheathed in narrow clapboard
- original exterior features of the house such as the full width front verandah with square columns, central staircase on the southern elevation, original doors and stained glass windows; and the irregular fenestration such as double-hung 1-over-1 wooden-sash windows, bay windows, and projecting windows in the gable ends
- original interior features of the house such as the U-shaped main stair designed around two symmetrically placed Ionic columns, and interior trim on the main floor including boxed beams and fireplaces
- gambrel-roofed barn with roof vent with finial, sliding hay loft and access doors, small multi-pane windows, and lapped wooden siding
- associated landscape features such as the original garden plantings with some exotic and many native specimen trees; the original log pond and its concrete Marine Drive causeway and culvert; rockeries and a rose garden
Designed in the British Arts and Crafts style, the ‘Fairacres’ Steam Plant Buiding is a single-storey wood frame building with a gabled roof that originally housed the apparatus for climate control in the greenhouses, formerly located to its north. The original rubble stone walls that formed the fo…
Designed in the British Arts and Crafts style, the ‘Fairacres’ Steam Plant Buiding is a single-storey wood frame building with a gabled roof that originally housed the apparatus for climate control in the greenhouses, formerly located to its north. The original rubble stone walls that formed the foundation for the greenhouses stand adjacent. The Steam Plant Building stands as a pendant to the Root House, which is to the north of the former greenhouses.
Heritage Value
The outbuildings at 'Fairacres' are a rare surviving architecturally-designed ensemble of agricultural structures that exist in complementary harmony with the main estate house. Architect Robert Mackay Fripp (1858-1917), an outspoken advocate of Arts and Crafts design, was retained by the Ceperleys to design several original outbuildings on their estate.
The Ceperleys operated 'Fairacres' with staff, a farm manager and workers, including Chinese, to grow produce for themselves and for sale at local markets. The Steam Plant Building illustrates the market gardening activity of the area around Deer Lake and its importance to the Ceperley family, which valued a year-round supply of fresh fruit and vegetables for the kitchen and flowers for the house. It also illustrates the cultural and aesthetic values of the Ceperleys in retaining an architect to design a functional outbuilding using an accepted and contemporary architectural style. Built in 1908, the Steam Plant Building was significantly altered in the 1960s and restored to its original design in 2000.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the ‘Fairacres’ Steam Plant Building include its:
- overall spatial arrangement of the Steam Plant Building in relation to the former greenhouses and the Root House
- side gable roof with cedar shingle cladding.
- tall brick chimney indicitive of the building's original function.
- distinctive Arts and Crafts architectural features such as the shingle wall cladding with decorative shingling under window sills, deep eaves, and pebble-dashed concrete foundation walls
- six-paned wooden-sash casement windows
- simple functional interior features
- rubble stone walls that formed the foundation for the greenhouses
The original rubble stone walls that formed the foundation for a greenhouses adjacent to the Steam Plant Building provided heat to several greenhouses on the estate propoerty. The Root House, which is to the north of the Greenhouse Foundation Wall, provided storage for the farm operation.
The original rubble stone walls that formed the foundation for a greenhouses adjacent to the Steam Plant Building provided heat to several greenhouses on the estate propoerty. The Root House, which is to the north of the Greenhouse Foundation Wall, provided storage for the farm operation.
Heritage Value
The outbuildings at 'Fairacres' are a rare surviving architecturally-designed ensemble of agricultural structures that exist in complementary harmony with the main estate house. Architect Robert Mackay Fripp (1858-1917), an outspoken advocate of Arts and Crafts design, was retained by the Ceperleys to design several original outbuildings on their estate, which was designed as a country estate with a working farm that included over 10 acres of productive berry and vegetable fields, with a large kitchen garden, a root house to store food, an orchard, and greenhouses heated by steam. The agricultural potential of the Deer Lake area made it one of the first parts of the municipality to attract settlement.
In 1909, the Ceperleys built three large greenhouses heated by an adjacent steam plant (Fairacres Steam Plant). The greenhouses featured granite foundation walls, including this one which remains intact. The Ceperleys employed a large staff to manage the estate's agricultural production, including Chinese farm labourers. Produce was grown for use at the estate, and for sale at local markets. Agricultural use of the estate continued when a Catholic order of Benedictine monks purchased the estate as part of the Priory of St. Joseph and the Seminary of Christ the King, and continued to farm the land until 1953.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the ‘Fairacres’ Steam Plant Building include its:
- overall spatial arrangement of the Greenhouse Foundation Wall in relation to the Steam Plant Building and the Root House
- original rubble stone walls reflecting the Arts and Crafts design aesthetic of the estate buildings.
The ‘Fairacres’ Root House is a long, low one-storey masonry building, measuring 4.6 metres by 9.1 metres, with massively buttressed concrete walls and foundations. Built into sloping ground adjacent to the location of the former greenhouses, the surviving orchard and the kitchen entrance of the ma…
The ‘Fairacres’ Root House is a long, low one-storey masonry building, measuring 4.6 metres by 9.1 metres, with massively buttressed concrete walls and foundations. Built into sloping ground adjacent to the location of the former greenhouses, the surviving orchard and the kitchen entrance of the main house, 'Fairacres,' this functional structure was used as a frost-free store for fruit and vegetables for the family's use.
Heritage Value
The outbuildings at 'Fairacres' are a rare surviving architecturally-designed ensemble of agricultural structures that exist in complementary harmony with the main estate house. Architect Robert Mackay Fripp (1858-1917), an outspoken advocate of Arts and Crafts design, was retained by the Ceperleys to design several original outbuildings on their estate.
The Root House is important as a rare surviving, and exceptionally large, example of this building type in the Vancouver region. Unusual in the fact that an architect designed a building of such modest aspirations, it is also remarkable in its method of construction. The use of concrete as a structural material is one of the earliest in the region and extraordinary for its use on such a modest vernacular outbuilding; root cellars were typically built of loose stone. Built in 1908, the Root House was significantly altered in the 1960s and restored to its original design in 2000.
The building is significant as an indicator of the market gardening activity in the area around Deer Lake and of the country-house self-sufficiency practiced by the Ceperley family. The Root House illustrates the cultural, aesthetic, and lifestyle values of the Ceperleys in constructing such a large building for storing their own produce.
Defining Elements
The outbuildings at 'Fairacres' are a rare surviving architecturally-designed ensemble of agricultural structures that exist in complementary harmony with the main estate house. Architect Robert Mackay Fripp (1858-1917), an outspoken advocate of Arts and Crafts design, was retained by the Ceperleys to design several original outbuildings on their estate.
The Root House is important as a rare surviving, and exceptionally large, example of this building type in the Vancouver region. Unusual in the fact that an architect designed a building of such modest aspirations, it is also remarkable in its method of construction. The use of concrete as a structural material is one of the earliest in the region and extraordinary for its use on such a modest vernacular outbuilding; root cellars were typically built of loose stone. Built in 1908, the Root House was significantly altered in the 1960s and restored to its original design in 2000.
The building is significant as an indicator of the market gardening activity in the area around Deer Lake and of the country-house self-sufficiency practiced by the Ceperley family. The Root House illustrates the cultural, aesthetic, and lifestyle values of the Ceperleys in constructing such a large building for storing their own produce.
1 photograph : b&w ; 5.3 x 7.8 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Scope and Content
Photograph of the building of Broadview, the home belonging to Claude Hill on Buckingham Avenue. Shown here under construction, Broadview was finished around 1907 and was the second home for the Hill family in the Burnaby Lake area. The first, Brookfield, was on Deer Lake Avenue.
1 photograph : b&w ; 5.3 x 7.8 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Description Level
Item
Record No.
477-874
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
2007-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of the building of Broadview, the home belonging to Claude Hill on Buckingham Avenue. Shown here under construction, Broadview was finished around 1907 and was the second home for the Hill family in the Burnaby Lake area. The first, Brookfield, was on Deer Lake Avenue.
1 photograph : b&w ; 5.2 x 6.3 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Scope and Content
Photograph of the building of Broadview, the home belonging to Claude Hill on Buckingham Avenue. Shown here under construction, Broadview was finished around 1907 and was the second home for the Hill family in the Burnaby Lake area. The first, Brookfield, was on Deer Lake Avenue.
1 photograph : b&w ; 5.2 x 6.3 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Description Level
Item
Record No.
477-873
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
2007-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of the building of Broadview, the home belonging to Claude Hill on Buckingham Avenue. Shown here under construction, Broadview was finished around 1907 and was the second home for the Hill family in the Burnaby Lake area. The first, Brookfield, was on Deer Lake Avenue.
Photograph of the "Dovecote" or the Sprott family farm under construction. There is a white fence running along the side of a footpath and a wooden building with scaffolding in the foreground. There is wood piled high beside a small wooden structure to the left of the photograph. Note the thick wo…
Photograph of the "Dovecote" or the Sprott family farm under construction. There is a white fence running along the side of a footpath and a wooden building with scaffolding in the foreground. There is wood piled high beside a small wooden structure to the left of the photograph. Note the thick wooded region behind the farm property.
Photograph of men in work clothes clearing Doulgas Road. A group of men to the right side of the photograph have shovels in their hands and are clearing rocks from the road. There is a small girl in a blouse and skirt standing beside two horses pulling a cart. Behind her is a group of men in wor…
Photograph of men in work clothes clearing Doulgas Road. A group of men to the right side of the photograph have shovels in their hands and are clearing rocks from the road. There is a small girl in a blouse and skirt standing beside two horses pulling a cart. Behind her is a group of men in work clothes as well. There is fenced land to the right of the photograph, and electric power poles and trees line both sides of the road. The accession register and inscription on the photograph identify this as Douglas Road (later renamed in part Canada Way). An annotation on the back of the photo reads: "Working on Douglas Road on hill above Burnaby Lake. No Date."
1 photograph : b&w ; 12.5 x 17 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Scope and Content
Photograph of Harriet Woodward and her class of students outside the Woodward home near Deer Lake which served as the first school and post office in the Burnaby Lake area; (l to r): Harriet Woodward (Miss Harry), Bob Peers, Melvin Mawhinney, Muriel Sprott, Kitty Hill, Beatrice Clayton and Arthur P…
1 photograph : b&w ; 12.5 x 17 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Description Level
Item
Record No.
477-868
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
2007-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of Harriet Woodward and her class of students outside the Woodward home near Deer Lake which served as the first school and post office in the Burnaby Lake area; (l to r): Harriet Woodward (Miss Harry), Bob Peers, Melvin Mawhinney, Muriel Sprott, Kitty Hill, Beatrice Clayton and Arthur Peers. The cottage was a prefabricated building designed by J.J. Mahoney and architect Joseph Bowman and was manufactured in Vancouver by the B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company and erected here is 1904. The cottage was enlarged with several additions until 1912 when the Woodwards built a new house.
1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7.5 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Scope and Content
Photograph of an unidentified person sitting on the porch of the Maude and Harriet Woodward cottage. This house was a prefabricated cottage erected in 1904. The cottages were designed by J.J. Mahoney and architect Joseph Bowman and were manufactured in Vancouver by the B.C. Mills Timber and Tradi…
1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7.5 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
Description Level
Item
Record No.
477-890
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
2007-12
Scope and Content
Photograph of an unidentified person sitting on the porch of the Maude and Harriet Woodward cottage. This house was a prefabricated cottage erected in 1904. The cottages were designed by J.J. Mahoney and architect Joseph Bowman and were manufactured in Vancouver by the B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company. Maude Woodward established a post-office here which was operated by her sister, Harriet. Harriet also began a small private school here, the first in Burnaby Lake. The cottage was enlarged with several additions until 1912 when the Woodwards built a new house.
Photograph of lumber piled up and the skeleton of a building being framed during the rebuilding of the Barnet Mill after the fire of 1909. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photograph of lumber piled up and the skeleton of a building being framed during the rebuilding of the Barnet Mill after the fire of 1909. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
This portion of the recording includes Alfred Bingham's descriptions of road construction in Burnaby, including the names of the settlers and logging companies involved in their construction. Alfred discusses the changes that took place during World War I, along with municipal Relief work that he t…
This portion of the recording includes Alfred Bingham's descriptions of road construction in Burnaby, including the names of the settlers and logging companies involved in their construction. Alfred discusses the changes that took place during World War I, along with municipal Relief work that he took part in at Burnaby Mountain. Alfred also discusses early schools and mentions his wife, Ada Bingham.
Recording is of Alfred Bingham's writings, as read by Alfred Bingham. Major themes discussed are: Pioneers, early days in Burnaby and the Co-op Movement. To view "Narrow By" terms for each track expand this description and see "Notes".
Biographical Notes
Alfred "Alf" Bingham was born in England in 1892 and moved to Canada in 1912. His first job in Canada was laying track for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) from Edmonton to McBride in 1912. His second was in Vancouver at the Rat Portage Mill on False Creek, working on the Resaw machine. He quit after one week due to poor working conditions.
After taking part in the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike as a delegate of the Retail and Mailorder Union (A.F.L.) on the Winnipeg Trades and Labour Council, Alfred moved to Burnaby where he and fellow Burnaby residents Aungus McLean and Percy Little worked ten hour days to build a Shingle Mill on the edge of Burnaby Lake for Simpson & Giberson. George Green, carpenter and millwright (author of “The History of Burnaby”) also helped in the construction of the mill. Alfred built his own home from lumber cut from the mill in the Lochdale area on Sherlock Street between Curtis Street and Kitchener Street.
On April 10, 1920 Alfred married Mary Jane “Ada” Reynolds. Alfred and Ada often took in foster children during their marriage. Due to her nursing experience, Ada was often called upon to deliver babies in the Burnaby area.
Alfred and Ada Bingham were instrumental members of the Army of the Common Good, collecting vegetables and grains from growers in the area and even producing over 125 tons of vegetables from its own gardens to feed children and youth suffering from the lack of resources during the Depression years. The army was in operation for ten years and during that time the members organised the Credit Union movement of British Columbia and drew up the Credit Union act thorough the Vancouver Co-operative Council. They also started Co-Op stores and the Co-Op Wholesale Society.
Alfred was also Secretary of the Burnaby Housing committee and in 1946 he became the Secretary of the North Burnaby Labour Progressive Party (LPP).
Mary Jane “Ada” (Reynolds) Bingham died on August 9, 1969. Her husband Alfred died on April 29, 1979.
Interview was digitized in 2010 allowing it to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council and the BC History Digitization Program of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia. It was recognized by the Heritage Society of BC with an award in 2012.
Images
Audio Tracks
Track three of recording of Alfred Bingham's writings
Track three of recording of Alfred Bingham's writings
Photograph of a historic photograph of an unidentified man standing on a boardwalk on the corner of Cariboo Road in Burnaby. Historic photograph includes a label in the top corner that reads: "Cariboo Rd / Burnaby". The road is made of dirt and a two story house is visible across the road from the …
Photograph of a historic photograph of an unidentified man standing on a boardwalk on the corner of Cariboo Road in Burnaby. Historic photograph includes a label in the top corner that reads: "Cariboo Rd / Burnaby". The road is made of dirt and a two story house is visible across the road from the man.