The J.D. Shearer House is a one and one-half storey British Arts and Crafts-style house distinguished by its picturesque roofline, half-timbered rough-cast stucco cladding on the upper floor and battered window casings. It is located on the south side of Buckingham Avenue at Haszard Street in Burna…
The J.D. Shearer House is a one and one-half storey British Arts and Crafts-style house distinguished by its picturesque roofline, half-timbered rough-cast stucco cladding on the upper floor and battered window casings. It is located on the south side of Buckingham Avenue at Haszard Street in Burnaby's Deer Lake neighbourhood.
Heritage Value
Built in 1912, the J.D. Shearer House is an excellent example of the high quality residences constructed in the British Arts and Crafts style by affluent citizens in Burnaby's Deer Lake neighbourhood, promoted at the time as the equivalent of the prestigious Shaughnessy Heights development in Vancouver. The site of this house was part of Louis Claude Hill's Buckingham Estate subdivision. Development of these Edwardian era neighbourhoods in Burnaby was facilitated by the B.C. Electric Railway interurban line. In addition, the increasing availability of automobiles to the well-to-do families of the era sped up the process of urbanization in the outlying areas of Vancouver.
Built for retired English military officer John D. Shearer and his wife, Katherine, the British Arts and Crafts design of the house represents associations with the Mother Country and the displays of patriotic loyalty considered desirable characteristics at the time. The picturesque charm and character of rural England is evoked in harmony with its woodland setting.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the J.D. Shearer House include its:
- location in the Buckingham Estate subdivision in the Deer Lake neighbourhood
- residential form, scale and massing as exemplified by its one and one-half storey plus basement height, asymmetrical plan, front bay window and picturesque roofline
- British Arts and Crafts details such as the half-timbering and rough-cast stucco on the upper storey, battered window casings, external clinker brick chimney on the east facade, deep overhanging closed eaves and bargeboards with distinctive lower returns
- side gabled roof with gabled and shed dormers, clad in cedar
- raised central entrance porch
- irregular fenestration, including multi-paned transoms over casement windows
- two internal red brick chimneys
The Kingsway East School is a two-storey wood-frame Arts and Crafts styled building. The school, and the adjacent cenotaph and memorial tennis courts, comprise Burnaby South Memorial Park.
The Kingsway East School is a two-storey wood-frame Arts and Crafts styled building. The school, and the adjacent cenotaph and memorial tennis courts, comprise Burnaby South Memorial Park.
Heritage Value
This school structure completed in 1913, the oldest surviving public education building in the city, was intended to be the auditorium and gymnasium for Burnaby’s first high school. However, because of the 1913 recession and the outbreak of the First World War, it was utilized as the Kingsway East Elementary School for the Edmonds District until 1921. Burnaby South High School opened here in 1922, and after it relocated this building was used for a variety of school purposes until it became redundant. The school was rehabilitated for community purposes in 2002-03 and renamed the Alan Emmott Centre to honor a former Mayor of Burnaby.
The impressive scale of the Kingsway East School is indicative of the relative size of the community and its growing demand for schooling at the time of construction, illustrating the value that early community residents placed on education. Built to plans of the Burnaby School Board architect, Joseph Henry Bowman (1864-1943), it also indicates the individual values and design control exercised by the school board during this era.
It is also significant for its Arts and Crafts style, allied to the typical Craftsman residential vocabulary, which was employed locally for school buildings of the Edwardian era. By using a common architectural vocabulary, this allowed the institution to reflect the values and aspirations of the local community. The Arts and Crafts style also demonstrated an allegiance to British educational antecedents and a demonstration of loyalty to the Mother Country.