Deerholme, wild flower front yard,
Deerholme
House with a view of Deer Lake.
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Description of Historic Place
Deerholme, the Townley Estate, is located on a lake front property on the north shore of Deer Lake Park. The main house is a two and one half storey, symmetrical-massed, wood frame Colonial Revival structure, with flanking one storey wings, a side gable roof and a central front entry. The historic place includes the house and grounds.
Heritage Value
Deerholme was built as the retirement estate of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Owen Townley (1862-1935) and his wife, Frances M. Townley. Townley was a pioneer resident of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia: he served as a lawyer, Registrar of Land Titles for New Westminster District and Mayor of Vancouver for one term in 1901.
Built in 1913, this is one of the most significant of the Deer Lake estate houses and was the last of grand Edwardian era mansions built on the lots surrounding the lake. The area had been opened up for development two years earlier by the construction of the British Columbia Electric Railway Interurban Line. The estate speaks of a gracious way of life achieved by society's elite during the Edwardian era, supported by the use of domestic servants. Grand in scale, architecturally sophisticated and set in a bucolic landscape, this residence demonstrates the social status of the owner in the privileged classes of the rapidly developing social structure of Burnaby.
The house is also significant as one of the earliest designs by the son of Thomas and Frances Townley, architect Fred Laughton Townley (1887-1966), who had graduated in architecture in 1911 from the University of Pennsylvania. In this house for his parents, he demonstrated his deft understanding of the American Period Revival styles learned during his schooling in the United States. The prevailing local taste for British-derived architecture dictated that this was a style he was rarely able to use until the Colonial Revival styles became more popular in the 1920s. F.L. Townley was a founding partner in Townley and Matheson, which achieved significant success as one of the most accomplished local architectural firms, culminating in their best known commission, Vancouver City Hall, 1935-36.
Deerholme, wild flower front yard,
Deerholme
House with a view of Deer Lake.
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Description of Historic Place
Deerholme, the Townley Estate, is located on a lake front property on the north shore of Deer Lake Park. The main house is a two and one half storey, symmetrical-massed, wood frame Colonial Revival structure, with flanking one storey wings, a side gable roof and a central front entry. The historic place includes the house and grounds.
Heritage Value
Deerholme was built as the retirement estate of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Owen Townley (1862-1935) and his wife, Frances M. Townley. Townley was a pioneer resident of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia: he served as a lawyer, Registrar of Land Titles for New Westminster District and Mayor of Vancouver for one term in 1901.
Built in 1913, this is one of the most significant of the Deer Lake estate houses and was the last of grand Edwardian era mansions built on the lots surrounding the lake. The area had been opened up for development two years earlier by the construction of the British Columbia Electric Railway Interurban Line. The estate speaks of a gracious way of life achieved by society's elite during the Edwardian era, supported by the use of domestic servants. Grand in scale, architecturally sophisticated and set in a bucolic landscape, this residence demonstrates the social status of the owner in the privileged classes of the rapidly developing social structure of Burnaby.
The house is also significant as one of the earliest designs by the son of Thomas and Frances Townley, architect Fred Laughton Townley (1887-1966), who had graduated in architecture in 1911 from the University of Pennsylvania. In this house for his parents, he demonstrated his deft understanding of the American Period Revival styles learned during his schooling in the United States. The prevailing local taste for British-derived architecture dictated that this was a style he was rarely able to use until the Colonial Revival styles became more popular in the 1920s. F.L. Townley was a founding partner in Townley and Matheson, which achieved significant success as one of the most accomplished local architectural firms, culminating in their best known commission, Vancouver City Hall, 1935-36.