Agnes & Elizabeth Michie Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Yale Street
- Associated Dates
- c.1935
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- This interwar bungalow is beautifully preserved and retains many original features. Symmetrical in design, with two steeply-pitched front gables that flank a central arched gable over the front entrance, it also retains its narrow arched windows and projecting purlins in the front gables. Narrow sidelights flank the front door. The matching front elevation windows are typical of the period, with double-hung sash flanking a plate glass “picture window” with a curved transom; the upper panes are cross-leaded. This house was built by Agnes Michie and Elizabeth D. Michie.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3894 Yale Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Angus & Mabel MacDonald Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- The Pillars
- Geographic Access
- Dundas Street
- Associated Dates
- 1913
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- With its two monumental, double height columns terminating in elaborate Ionic capitals, this Neoclassical Revival style house is aptly named The Pillars. Other Neoclassical embellishments include a Palladian pediment window, pilasters with Ionic capitals applied to the front corners of the house and lathe-turned porch columns. Though it has been re-clad with a later covering of asbestos shingles over the original siding, it otherwise retains a high degree of exterior integrity with most of its double-hung windows and decorative elements still in place. This home was constructed for Angus John MacDonald (née Cummins, 1878-1955), Vice-President of A. Linton & Company Ltd., and his wife Mabel Jessie MacDonald (1884-1971). Linton & Company was a shipbuilding firm; MacDonald retired in 1942 after thirty years in the industry. A photograph of this grand house was often featured in the promotional material for the Vancouver Heights subdivision by realtors and titled “A typical Vancouver Heights home.”
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3815 Dundas Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Angus & Margaret MacDonald House
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- Set on a large corner lot at North Esmond Avenue and Oxford Street, the Angus & Margaret MacDonald House is a prominent, two and one-half storey Queen Anne Revival-style residence. The high hipped roof has open projecting gables. The house is a landmark within the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of…
- Associated Dates
- 1909
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Oxford Street
- Associated Dates
- 1909
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 12174
- Enactment Date
- 11/12/2006
- Description
- Set on a large corner lot at North Esmond Avenue and Oxford Street, the Angus & Margaret MacDonald House is a prominent, two and one-half storey Queen Anne Revival-style residence. The high hipped roof has open projecting gables. The house is a landmark within the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of North Burnaby, on a high point of land overlooking Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains.
- Heritage Value
- The MacDonald House is valued as one of Burnaby’s most elaborate examples of the Queen Anne Revival style. The house retains many of its original features, including a prominent front corner turret wrapped by a clamshell verandah. The eclectic and transitional nature of Edwardian-era architecture is demonstrated by the late persistence of these Queen Anne Revival details, combined with the use of newly-popular classical revival elements such as Ionic columns. The interior retains a number of original architectural elements, and the early garage at the rear originally housed Angus MacDonald’s Cadillac, one of the first known automobiles owned by a Burnaby resident.
Constructed in 1909, this house was built for Angus MacDonald (1857-1943) and his wife, Margaret Isabella Thompson MacDonald (1862-1939). Angus MacDonald, an electrical contractor, relocated from Nova Scotia to Vancouver in 1891 and served on Vancouver Council from 1904-08. The MacDonald family moved to Burnaby upon his retirement from the B.C. Electric Railway Company, and he then served the North Burnaby Ward as a councillor from 1911-1916 and again in 1921. MacDonald Street in Burnaby was named in his honour.
The MacDonald House has additional significance as one of the surviving landmark residences, built between 1909 and 1914, during the first development of Vancouver Heights. In 1909, C.J. Peter and his employer, G.F. and J. Galt Limited, initiated the development of this North Burnaby neighbourhood, promoting it as one of the most picturesque districts in the region 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. Reputed to be the second house built in the subdivision, this house cost $7,000 to build.
- Defining Elements
- Key elements that define the heritage character of the MacDonald House include its:
- prominent corner location in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood, with views to Burrard Inlet and the North Shore Mountains
- residential form, scale and massing as exemplified by its two and one-half storey height, full basement, compound plan, and high hipped roof with gabled projections at the front and side
- wood-frame construction including wooden lapped siding, trim and mouldings
- rubble-stone granite foundation
- Queen Anne Revival details such as scroll-cut modillions, octagonal corner turret, wraparound, clamshell verandah with classical columns, and projecting square and semi-octagonal bays
- external red-brick chimney with corbelled top
- original windows including double-hung, 1-over-1 wooden sash windows in single and double assembly, and arched-top casement windows in the gable peaks
- original interior features such as the main staircase, a panelled dining room with a fireplace and built-in cabinets, a living room with a parquet floor, and a rear den with an oak mantle and tiled hearth
- associated early wood-frame garage at the rear of the property
- landscape features such as mature coniferous and deciduous trees surrounding the property
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Organization
- British Columbia Mills Timber and Trading Company
- Function
- Primary Historic--Single Dwelling
- Primary Current--Single Dwelling
- Community
- Vancouver Heights
- Cadastral Identifier
- P.I.D.011-999-462
- Boundaries
- The MacDonald House is comprised of a single residential lot located at 3814 Oxford Street, Burnaby.
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Documentation
- City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, Heritage Site Files
- Names
- Macdonald, Angus
- British Columbia Mills Timber and Trading Company
- Street Address
- 3814 Oxford Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Bishop Block
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Hastings Street
- Associated Dates
- 1935
- Description
- Commercial building.
- Heritage Value
- This one-storey commercial block retains its original division into three retail units. An eclectic Spanish Colonial Revival character is imparted by the use of visor roofs, covered in metal pantiles, that extend over the recessed entries. The stepped parapets are more reminiscent of the Art Deco style. Each of the three retail spaces retains their plate glass display windows. This commercial block was owned in 1939 by Mary J. Bishop of Vancouver.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Willingdon Heights Area
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3736 Hastings Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Burnaby Heights Neighbourhood
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1955-2008
- Heritage Value
- Up until the 1970s, this neighbourhood was known as Vancouver Heights. When a new park was created during that decade and named "Burnaby Heights Park," the name was gradually adopted by newcomers to the area. Today, you will hear residents refer to their neighbourhood as Burnaby Heights, Vancouver Heights, or just "The Heights." Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the commercial district in this neighbourhood continued to grow and a Retail Merchants Association was formed which later became known as the Heights Merchants Association. The neighbourhood still retains a residential neighbourhood characteristic with an increasing number of apartment buildings and multi-family units being built over the past 20 years.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
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Colonial Finance Company House
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Cambridge Street
- Associated Dates
- c.1912
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- 3890 Cambridge Street and 3896 Cambridge Street are nearly identical twins. These modestly-sized pattern book residences each feature a side gabled roof with a central dormer and a central entrance, as well as interesting Craftsman-style detailing such as the bracketed verandah columns, triangular eave brackets and exposed rafter tails. Though the original exterior siding has been covered by a later stucco cladding, the house maintains its original double-hung windows with elaborate multi-paned upper sashes. Built as a revenue property, it was owned by the Colonial Finance Company in 1915.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3890 Cambridge Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Colonial Finance Company House
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Cambridge Street
- Associated Dates
- c.1912
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- 3890 Cambridge Street and 3896 Cambridge Street are nearly identical twins. These modestly-sized pattern book residences each feature a side gabled roof with a central dormer and a central entrance, and an open front verandah. Both houses have later coverings over their original siding; 3890 Cambridge was stuccoed, and this house received more recent vinyl siding, indicating the periodic pressure on homeowners to “upgrade” through the use of new, applied products. Built as a revenue property by the Colonial Finance Company, this house was owned by David Caldwell, the manager of the Caldwell & Carson real estate company in 1915.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Street Address
- 3896 Cambridge Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Crabtown
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1912-1957
- Heritage Value
- North Burnaby's waterfront was the location of a unique squatter's community known as Crabtown. Although its origins are obscure, it is believed that the first shacks were built before 1912. When the depression of 1913-1917 began, the shacks became permanent homes for impoverished workers. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the community grew larger. Crabtown was not a slum, but a neighbourhood - the community even rallied together to build a water supply system and trails up the steep bluff with steps and banisters so children could go to school safely. In 1957, the National Harbours Board decided that Crabtown was encroaching on Federal property and evicted all 130 residents. Within a few months, residents were relocated and 114 homes were levelled.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
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David Graybill Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Eton Street
- Associated Dates
- 1913
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- Built by David Graybill in 1913, this house is a unique example of a two-storey Arts and Crafts house. The visor roofs, which shield the upper storey windows, and the second storey balcony, which was incorporated into the ground floor verandah roof, add to the house’s character and remain its most notable decorative features. Other defining features are the wide, overhanging eaves with triangular eave brackets. Though the wooden siding has been covered with asbestos shingles–an easily-reversible alteration–the house remains in highly original condition.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3757 Eton Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Dr. James Farish House
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Cambridge Street
- Associated Dates
- 1912
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- This house was constructed as an investment rental property by Nova Scotia-born Dr. James Collins Farish (1866-1952). Farish was a Vancouver physician and surgeon and an eye, ear, nose & throat specialist; he retired in 1941 after fifty years of practice. In 1903, he married his first wife, Annie Gower Revely (died 1922). His second wife, Ella Jean Morrison (1887-1953) was originally from Winslow, Quebec. With its hipped roof and gabled projections, this house displays the typical elements of the Edwardian era domestic architecture. Features such as exposed rafter tails, paired square porch columns and bracketed bay windows display the emerging influence of the Arts and Crafts style. The ground floor windows are excellent examples of the multiple assemblies of casement, fixed and transom windows favoured during the era. A recent restoration project has extensively altered the original appearance and character of this impressive home.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3774 Cambridge Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Less detail
Ernest & Katherine Hermon Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Yale Street
- Associated Dates
- 1911
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- Mr. Ernest Bolton Hermon, of the prominent engineering firm Hermon & Burwell, built this residence, and he and his wife, Katherine, lived here until 1935. The British Columbian described this home as “…a splendid mansion …which cost in the neighbourhood of $15,000.” Hermon was born into a Dutch family in Ontario in 1863, and moved to British Columbia in 1886. This is one of only three examples of the work of Samuel Maclure in Burnaby and is an outstanding example of his firm’s typical British Arts and Crafts style designs. Samuel Maclure (1860-1929) 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, 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. This partnership lasted until when Fox was killed overseas in active service during the First World War.The house has received some alterations, including stucco and brick being added to the lower floor, but it has retained its original form and massing including its symmetrical design, hipped roof and second floor half timbering.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Architect
- Maclure & Fox
- Area
- 1133.42
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3870 Yale Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Frank Walsh Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Boundary Road
- Associated Dates
- 1948
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- This Streamline Moderne house is a rare example of this style in Burnaby and remains in excellent condition. Reflecting the influence of technology, industrial design and aerodynamic styling, the house has smooth rounded surfaces, rounded corners, a flat roof and prominent projecting eaves. It was built for prominent North Burnaby businessman Frank Wallace Walsh (1907-1963), who was a mechanic, and his wife Rena.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 270 Boundary Road
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Less detail
François & Cezarie Comeau Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Esmond Avenue
- Associated Dates
- c.1925
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- This home was built for Francois Xavier “Frank” Comeau (1863-1943), a blacksmith who moved from Quebec to Vancouver in about 1890, and his wife Cezarie Marie (née Fortin, 1860-1950), also from Quebec, whom he married in 1903. Featuring a front gabled roof with decorative triangular eave brackets, this comfortable Craftsman bungalow displays other characteristics typical of the style such as lapped siding at the foundation, a shingle-clad main floor, casement windows and stained glass transoms on the front elevation. The most notable feature of the plan is the inset verandah with subtle segmental-arched openings and tapered square columns.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 306 Esmond Avenue
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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George & Rose Nuttall Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- HILLCREST
- Geographic Access
- McGill Street
- Associated Dates
- 1921
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- This house was built for local plumber contractor George Nuttall (1883-1970) and his wife Rose Ann Nuttall (née Clagg, 1881-1955). George continued to live in the house after Rose’s death, until his own death in 1970. Although typical of the Craftsman style and form with its side-gabled roof, triangular eave brackets and front gabled dormer, this house has a number of special details, such as its beautiful art glass transom windows. The front verandah supports are massive stucco columns that contain stained glass lanterns with the house name, Hillcrest, and address.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3756 McGill Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Gilmore Community School
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Gilmore Avenue School
- Geographic Access
- Gilmore Avenue
- Associated Dates
- 1915
- Description
- School building.
- Heritage Value
- This Classical Revival school was originally designed as a two-storey four-room brick building in 1915, with a two-storey four-room addition in 1922 and an auditorium in 1929. It was built to replace a wooden schoolhouse that had been built on the site in 1912. The original section was designed by Joseph Bowman (1864-1943), a specialist in school buildings who was the school board architect for South Vancouver and Burnaby, with the additions designed after the formation of his partnership with Harold Cullerne in 1919. One of Bowman’s first designs for Burnaby was a utilitarian two-storey school that could be built with two classrooms and later expanded to eight rooms as the district’s school population grew; five schools from this design were built in 1908, and then four others in modified versions between 1910-16, including this school. This school was named after provincial politician Hugh Gilmour, but the spelling of the name was inadvertently changed by a civic clerk. The classrooms retain their thick wood doors, cloakrooms and rounded walls. The first addition was built by the contracting firm of Patterson, Cope & Thomson. Original features include the dentilled cornice that encircles the entire building and its red brick façade. The school was the first brick school in Burnaby and is the only school of this era left in Burnaby.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Architect
- Bowman & Cullerne
- Area
- 7601.86
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Street Address
- 50 Gilmore Avenue
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Harrison & Beatrice Morrison Residence
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Dundas Street
- Associated Dates
- 1911
- Description
- Residential building.
- Heritage Value
- In 1911, the Vancouver Daily Province reported that “Mr. Harrison D. Morrison is building a twelve-room house of two stories and an attic, with stone basement, on Dundas Street, at a cost of about $4,500.” Harrison Donald Morrison (1864-1944) was a life-long contractor who lived in Burnaby with his wife Beatrice Amanda (née Smith, 1875-1954), until his death in 1944. This Edwardian-era house displays many holdover elements of the Queen Anne Revival style, particularly the elaboration of wall surfaces. In this example, the use of bay and cutaway bay windows, and integral first and second storey verandahs–now removed or altered–add visual interest. The distinct dual pitch of the roof is also a transitional characteristic, used in the late days of the Queen Anne Revival style. A later coat of stucco now covers the original ground floor siding.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Area
- 566.71
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3738 Dundas Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Hastings Barnet Road
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1903
- Heritage Value
- Prior to 1900, Hastings Street in Vancouver (named after Rear Admiral George Fowler Hastings, commander of Her Majesty's Pacific Coast Squadron) only extended eastward as far as Renfrew Street. By 1903, however, with operations at the Barnet Mill expanding, a direct route into Vancouver was deemed necessary and the Provincial Government ordered that Hastings be extended to connect with the rough trail known as the Barnet Road.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
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H.D. Morrison House
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- The H.D. Morrison House is a tall, two and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame Edwardian era residence, with an eclectic combination of Arts and Crafts stylistic elements. It is now located adjacent to a large multi-family residential building in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of North Bu…
- Associated Dates
- 1912
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Harrison D. Morrison House
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Harrison D. Morrison House
- Geographic Access
- Albert Street
- Associated Dates
- 1912
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 10626
- Enactment Date
- 22/09/1997
- Description
- The H.D. Morrison House is a tall, two and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame Edwardian era residence, with an eclectic combination of Arts and Crafts stylistic elements. It is now located adjacent to a large multi-family residential building in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of North Burnaby.
- Heritage Value
- The H.D. Morrison House is valued for its association with the initial speculative development phase of the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood, initiated during the Edwardian era as a high-class residential subdivision. Building contractor Harrison D. Morrison built this house as a rental property in 1912, at the height of the land speculation boom prior to the First World War. Buyers in the neighbourhood were obligated by the developer, G.F. and J. Galt Limited, to build houses worth a minimum of $3,500 at a time when the average house price was $1,000.
Additionally, the H.D. Morrison House is a typical example of builders' houses of the time period, distinguished by the unique stacked balconies on the front facade. It was one of the surviving landmark residences built between 1909 and 1914 during the first development boom in Vancouver Heights.
- Defining Elements
- Key elements that define the heritage character of the H.D. Morrison House include its:
- location on a south-facing slope in the Vancouver Heights neighbourhood of North Burnaby
- residential form, scale and massing as exemplified by its symmetrical two and one-half storey plus basement height, front gabled roof and rectangular plan
- vernacular Arts and Crafts style elements such as the exposed roof beams and rafter tails, decorative scalloped shingles in the front gable and decorative brackets
- main floor full open front verandah on the front facade with two stacked balconies above, all detailed with square columns, scroll-cut brackets and overhanging roof eaves
- bowed balustrade on main floor verandah
- boxed eaves with scroll-cut brackets
- recessed top floor gable treatment
- cladding, including lapped wooden siding at the main floor and cedar shingles on the second floor and in the gable ends, with decorative diamond-cut shingles in the front gable end
- front entry door with incised design, dentil detail and rectangular glass inset, with glassed sidelights
- irregular fenestration: double-hung 1-over-1 wooden-sash windows; and three part casement window on main floor front facade, with diamond-shaped leaded lights in double transom above
- corbelled red brick internal chimney
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Heights Area
- Function
- Primary Historic--Single Dwelling
- Primary Current--Multiple Dwelling
- Community
- Burnaby
- Cadastral Identifier
- 003-318-371
- Boundaries
- The H.D. Morrison House is comprised of a single residential lot located at 3765 Albert Street, Burnaby.
- Area
- 2263
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Ownership
- Private
- Street Address
- 3765 Albert Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
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Helen 'The Swinging Girl' Neon Sign
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- Commercial building.
- Associated Dates
- 1956
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear Sign
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear Sign
- Geographic Access
- Hastings Street
- Associated Dates
- 1956
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 12771
- Enactment Date
- 19/04/2010
- Description
- Commercial building.
- Heritage Value
- While the building here is of some importance as the former North Burnaby municipal office, its primary importance is its delightful neon sign that has become a North Burnaby landmark. Helen Arnold opened Helen’s Childrens Wear shop in the building next door to the old Municipal offices in 1948. In 1955, when North Burnaby moved out, she moved into the vacated building. As part of the renovations, Helen enlisted the assistance of her good friend Jimmy Wallace, owner of Vancouver’s Wallace Neon Company, to create a new sign for her expanded business. One of the company’s designers, Reeve Lehman, created the swinging neon girl that was installed in 1956. Designed in two parts, one section of the sign is cloud shaped and reads ‘Helen’s’ while the other section is a moving representation of a little girl on a swing. The sign is nine feet six inches high and nine feet wide, and the lower section is animated with an internal motor and gears. It immediately became a landmark on Hastings Street, and recently the sign’s design fame has spread far and wide as one of the best surviving examples of kinetic neon art in North America.
- Locality
- Vancouver Heights
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Vancouver Heights (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Willingdon Heights Area
- Community
- Burnaby
- Names
- Helen's Childrens Wear
- Subjects
- Buildings - Commercial - Stores
- Advertising Medium - Signs and Signboards
- Street Address
- 4142 Hastings Street
- Street View URL
- Google Maps Street View
Less detail