Print | Heritage Burnaby

Heritage Value: 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.