Photograph of "Normanna," the Brookes family residence. This new Brookes family home was built in 1927 on the same site as the original house at 441 12th Avenue (later renumbered 7979 12th Avenue). Eventually, this became Normanna Norwegian rest home. The original house was built by Burnaby's firs…
Photograph of "Normanna," the Brookes family residence. This new Brookes family home was built in 1927 on the same site as the original house at 441 12th Avenue (later renumbered 7979 12th Avenue). Eventually, this became Normanna Norwegian rest home. The original house was built by Burnaby's first Reeve, Charles Shaw, and is now a designated heritage site at 7725 4th Street.
Photograph of the exterior of the Brook family home at 7979 12th Avenue, East Burnaby. This house later became the Normanna Rest Home, 7725 4th Street.
Photograph of the exterior of the Brook family home at 7979 12th Avenue, East Burnaby. This house later became the Normanna Rest Home, 7725 4th Street.
Photograph of the exterior of the Brook family home at 7979 12th Avenue, East Burnaby. This house later became the Normanna Rest Home, 7725 4th Street.
Photograph of the exterior of the Brook family home at 7979 12th Avenue, East Burnaby. This house later became the Normanna Rest Home, 7725 4th Street.
Photograph of a two storey house with a basement built on a large lawn. There are flower beds on the lawn and a fence around the backyard. A neighboring house and the woods are visible in the background. According to the donor form, the photograph depicts James Brooke's house on 12th Avenue in Bu…
Photograph of a two storey house with a basement built on a large lawn. There are flower beds on the lawn and a fence around the backyard. A neighboring house and the woods are visible in the background. According to the donor form, the photograph depicts James Brooke's house on 12th Avenue in Burnaby, built by G. Moxham and Company. At the time of the donation, the house was owned by Normanna Rest Home. "
The annotation on verso of photo reads: "Home of James Brookes / (Normanna) now. / Built by G. Moxham & Co. / 1944 Sixth St. Burnaby. / built in early 20's - '22-'24?" Stamped on the back of the photo: "100.
The Charles R. Shaw House is a one and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame late Victorian era residence, located on the grounds of the Normanna Rest Home development in East Burnaby, near its original location on this site. Originally a modest vernacular Victorian structure, it has been enlarg…
The Charles R. Shaw House is a one and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame late Victorian era residence, located on the grounds of the Normanna Rest Home development in East Burnaby, near its original location on this site. Originally a modest vernacular Victorian structure, it has been enlarged and embellished through later additions.
Heritage Value
The Shaw House is one of the oldest surviving houses in Burnaby, and is valued as a representation of a typical vernacular pioneer house in Burnaby, and a rare survivor from the late Victorian era. The original portion of the house displays a simplicity of form and detail consistent with early local construction, while the later additions display a more sophisticated approach.
Originally built in 1891, this house is valued for its association with first owner, Charles R. Shaw (1834-1916) and Mary D. Shaw (1848-1897), one of Burnaby’s earliest settlers. Born in England, Shaw immigrated to Toronto in 1869, and relocated to New Westminster in 1889, where he worked as an employee of the Mechanic's Mill Company, an early woodworking plant. After moving to Burnaby, he was unanimously elected by acclamation as first reeve (mayor) of the new municipality in 1892. In 1894, Shaw sold his house and farm and moved his family to Kamloops due to his wife Mary's failing health. After Mary died in 1897, the Shaw family returned to Toronto.
The Shaw House is additionally valued for its association with a later owner, James Brookes (1884-1953), founder of James Brookes Woodworking Ltd., a mill that was a major employer in East Burnaby. Brookes bought and renovated the house in 1917. In 1927, he built a much larger house on the property (now demolished), and the original house was moved to the corner of the property to serve as a gardener's cottage for Brookes' estate. The additions made to the house at this time employed sash and milled products produced by the Brookes plant. Although altered, this Victorian era residence remains largely intact, with Brookes’s later additions.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Shaw House include its:
- modest vernacular residential form, scale and massing, as exemplified by its one and one-half storey plus basement height, front gabled roof, shed roofed verandah and asymmetrical plan
- asymmetrical front entrance
- cladding: horizontal wooden drop siding on the original portion of the house; cedar shingles on additions; decorative octagonal cedar shingles in the front gable; original decorated bargeboards at front, with cut-out details
- later renovations to the front verandah and side addition which resulted in a partially glazed porch entrance and addition with large window assemblies
- square verandah columns
- irregular fenestration: double-hung wooden-sash windows in a variety of configurations such as 6-over-1 and 4-over-1 windows in the original portion of the house, 12-over-1 windows, and one 24-over-1 window in the front addition
- small window at front entry
- fifteen-pane French front entry door
- internal red brick chimney with corbelled cap
Early Burnaby as recalled by the settlers themselves who arrived from every corner of the world between 1888 and 1930, some witnessing incorporation of the district in 1892, all seeking a better life for themselves and especially for their children, all helping transform the wilderness into the modern municipality of today.
Subseries consists of a photograph of the Moxham residence on 6th Street in Burnaby, photograph of Edmonds Street School class, and a pamphlet called "Gilmore Generations". Also included are two photographs of the Brook House at 7725 4th Street.
Subseries consists of a photograph of the Moxham residence on 6th Street in Burnaby, photograph of Edmonds Street School class, and a pamphlet called "Gilmore Generations". Also included are two photographs of the Brook House at 7725 4th Street.
History
Kathleen Moxham was born in England in 1911. She emigrated from England with her family in 1912, settling first in New Westminster, BC. A year later, they moved to a large house on Sixth Street in Burnaby, BC.
Kathleen’s father, Godfrey Moxham, worked as a contractor. He cleared land and built houses, including the Brook House (now the Normanna Rest Home). He died April 8, 1968.
Kathleen attended Edmonds Elementary School and later Burnaby South High School. She remembers going on strike with fellow Edmonds Elementary students in 1919 when teachers refused to allow students a spring holiday after so much time had been lost to school closures brought on by the influenza epidemic earlier in the school year.