Development in the Broadview area slowed during World War Two, but after the war, the area became home to a number of industrial sites. The first major plant to be built here was the Dominion Bridge Company which opened in 1930.
After a lull in construction during the World War I period, East Burnaby Neighbourhood's growth resumed during the 1920s when many homes and businesses were constructed. The post-World War Two period also saw rapid construction and the creation of new housing developments in response to a population boom. The neighbourhood remained a primarily single-family residential area.
In 1935 the announcement that the California-based Standard Oil Company was going to build a huge "million dollar" refinery in Burnaby was greeted with cheers by residents who were eager for employment and good news during the Great Depression. The refinery, named Stanovan (aka: Standard Oil - Vancouver) was officially opened in 1936 with the ability to produce 2000 barrels per day. During World War Two, the capacity of the refinery doubled to assist in the war effort. In 1976, the company's name was changed to Chevron Canada Limited.
As with many areas of Burnaby during this period, the years after World War Two marked a rapid growth in residential development in the Alta-Vista Neighbourhood. Subdivisions like Sussex and Suncrest were built and new schools and amenities were constructed to meet the demands of increased population.
After World War I and the Great Depression of the 1930s, more homes were constructed and subdivisions created in the Burnaby Lake district. The area around Deer Lake gained a reputation for being an "artistic development of commodious homes with park-like grounds."
Although the Hastings street-car extension to Ellesmere opened in 1913 and there had been much speculation in the area during the real estate boom of 1909-1913, development in Capitol Hill did not really take off until after World War One when workers in Vancouver started to look to Burnaby for affordable but centrally-located neighbourhoods in which to build their homes. The 1913 one-room school had to be replaced in 1923 and in 1948, members of the community came together to build a new Community Hall.
Although still largely a rural area during the 1920s, subdivisions began appearing in the Central Park neighbourhood at this time. Development was slowed by the Great Depression of the 1930s but the influx of commercial buildings and new housing initiatives in the post-war boom led to a period of rapid growth especially in the Garden Village subdivision which was undertaken in 1953 with the plan to build 500 modern homes in the 140-acre site. Despite the closure of the interurban line in 1953, the neighbourhood remained an active commercial and residential centre.
In 1938, the Ford Motor Company selected Burnaby as its site for a new assembly plant to serve Western Canada. Ford purchased the land which had been owned by the Silver family at Kingsway and Silver Avenue and built its factory using steel from Burnaby's Dominion Bridge Company. During World War II, the plant was used to produce military vehicles. In 1988, the building was demolished and the Station Square development was constructed on the site.
Like a lot of residential neighbourhoods in Burnaby during the post-War boom, the Lozells area during the 1925-1954 period was one of new construction and subdivisions. Although more homes were being built, the neighbourhood still retained a somewhat rural characteristic well into the 1950s.
This house was built for Richard Dunn, a police sergeant with the B.C. Police force and his wife Alice. This house is a notable example of a Storybook Cottage, dating from just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Modest houses of the era often assumed a cottage appearance that provided a romantic ideal of traditional domesticity. With its smooth, planar stucco, severely-clipped roof edges, round-arched door and windows, side arch with a catslide roof, cross-leaded glass and brick detailing, this house is an excellent example of this picturesque housing trend. Located on a corner lot, the house was sited at an angle. The large Chilean Pine, or monkey-puzzle tree, entrance is a remarkable specimen.
This church replaced the first Vancouver Heights Presbyterian Church, which opened in 1911 and later became the Masonic Hall. This site was purchased in 1928, but the new church was not completed until 1930, due to the financial constraints of the Depression era. B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Bruce dedicated the church on Feb. 16, 1931. The building has retained its Classical Revival form and detailing, including its symmetrical design, columns flanking the recessed main entrance and arched windows with keystone detailing. The Vancouver Heights Presbyterian Church was designed by Australian-born architect H.H. Simmonds (1883-1954). After serving in the First World War, Simmonds resumed his local practice, and even during the Depression, his output remained prolific. In the 1920s and 30s, Simmonds was commissioned by the City of Vancouver to replace several pavilions at the Pacific National Exhibition with a consistent grouping of Art Deco buildings including the surviving Livestock Building (1929), Women and Fine Arts Building (1931) and Forum (1933).
The Westridge Neighbourhood of Burnaby was created as a new subdivision during the post-World War Two housing boom in Burnaby. Developed by the C.B. Riley Company, it was laid out in a plan contoured to the shapes of the land and was situated to allow residents easy access to main transportation routes.
Willingdon Heights was another new subdivision developed in Burnaby during the post-World War Two building boom. A brochure about the development published in 1948 proclaimed "the Willingdon Heights 500 home development project in Burnaby fulfills its promise to provide a self-contained community for former members of the armed services and their families...the largest single veteran housing project in Canada as far as homes for individual ownership is concerned, Willingdon Heights development was planned by the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation...At this date the earlier built rows of homes have passable roads and the owners are improving lawns and gardens in spare time...eventually additional stores and professional services will be installed and recreational projects will add to the amenities of a community of congenial residents..."
The Mary England Residence is a one and one-half storey, wood-frame, Period Revival cottage with a steeply pitched, cross-gabled roof. Situated on Griffiths Drive within the Edmonds neighbourhood of Burnaby, the Mary England Residence has an original attached garage.
The Mary England Residence is a one and one-half storey, wood-frame, Period Revival cottage with a steeply pitched, cross-gabled roof. Situated on Griffiths Drive within the Edmonds neighbourhood of Burnaby, the Mary England Residence has an original attached garage.
Heritage Value
The Mary England Residence, built in 1930, is valued as a representation of the period revival styles that were popular in the era between the two World Wars. At this time, it was considered the height of fashion for a house to reflect historical styles, even when combined in an eclectic manner, that expressed a domestic ideal of cozy traditionalism. The Mary England Residence is an exuberant example of this trend. Half-timbering, multi-paned and leaded casement windows and a steeply pitched, cross-gabled roof impart a storybook cottage charm. Its first owner, Mary England, was employed for several years as stenographer at the old Burnaby Municipal Hall. An original attached garage is evidence of the growing presence of automobiles in domestic life of the 1930s.
Additionally, the Mary England Residence is a testament to the continued suburban growth of the Edmonds neighbourhood. During the Edwardian era, the area experienced a housing boom. Its proximity to New Westminster, coupled with its regional transportation links, made it an attractive area for middle-class residences. Despite the economic recession of the 1930s, the Edmonds area continued to develop with modest but handsome housing.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Mary England Residence:
- location, in the Edmonds neighbourhood of East Burnaby
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half storey height with full basement, rectangular plan and steeply pitched cross-gabled roof
- Period Revival elements such as rough-cast stucco, half-timbering, minimal eave overhangs, arched entry with glazed wooden front door, and arched-top feature window
- mixture of windows including: double-hung, multi-paned wooden sash windows in double assembly; 6-over-1 double-hung wooden sash windows in multiple assembly; multi-paned casement windows; and straight-leaded feature windows
- external parged chimney and two internal chimneys
- attached front-gabled garage
- associated landscape features including mature deciduous trees and fruit trees
Local farmers William Alexander Mawhinney (1870-1953) and Annie Josephine Mawhinney (née Sutcliff, 1871-1956) built this residence as their retirement home. It was the last of several houses built in the immediate vicinity by members of the Mawhinney family between 1909 and 1930. Born in Ireland, William Mawhinney first came to Burnaby to help his brother Isaiah establish his fruit farm. Due to his farm management experience, in 1908 William became foreman of the Avalon estate at Deer Lake that was owned by F.J. Hart. When he retired in 1930, William had fifty years of experience as a fruit and grain farmer.This house is situated on its lot at an angle, rather than parallel to the street, to take advantage of the view of wooded Buckingham Creek that runs through the northeast section of the property. Complementing the picturesque character of the property is this charming cottage-style residence, which is an excellent example of an interwar Storybook Cottage. During the years between the two World Wars, domestic styles in North America were resolutely historicist. In order to display good taste, it was expected that a house would have an identifiable period revival style. As economics dictated that houses of the time were generally modest, they often assumed a cottage appearance that provided a romantic ideal of traditional domesticity. The American Sesquicentennial reinforced this historicist trend, and the most popular Hollywood movies of the time were swashbuckling costume dramas. With its distinctive roughcast stucco and half-timbering, this house is an excellent example of this housing trend. The rolled roof edges, with steam-bent cedar shingles, simulate a traditional thatched roof. Other picturesque features include a front porch with round-arched openings, battered wall buttresses, an oriel window and diamond-paned leaded casement windows.