Arts & Crafts Cottage

General Information

Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: formerly 7011 Ash Street
Address: 9280 Alberta Road
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): City Centre
Construction Date: c. 1912
Current Owner: Private
Designated: No

Statement of Significance

Description of Site

The house at 7011 Ash Street is a one-storey, rectangular, gable roofed bungalow constructed in the Craftsman style.

Statement of Values

Likely constructed around 1912, the house at 7011 Ash Street evokes a sense of place reminiscent of a time in Richmond's history when the construction of modest farmhouses and the aspirations of the middle class were creating new and distinct neighbourhoods in Richmond. First owned by real estate companies, and then by a farming family until 1940, the house reflects the purchase of land and construction of houses on a speculative basis during the building boom before World War I. Originally located on a larger, prominent corner lot in the Town Centre area of Richmond, the house reflects the historical pre-World War I small-lot residential subdivision occurring in parts of the municipality. Better transportation routes, along with coordinated dyking and drainage systems, allowed the development of the interior of Lulu Island, and the new location of civic facilities in the Town Centre area were influential in bringing more people to his area of Richmond. Now becoming rare, the house is a good representative example of a Craftsman bungalow, a housing type both compact and convenient, that became popular in Richmond in the first part of the twentieth century, a time when the Arts and Crafts movement was making good design available to the middle class. The single storey, rectangular from of the building reflects these Craftsman origins. Its original location on a larger corner lot reflects the early settlement patterns in this area, the social status of its owners, and the transition from farming to residential land use.

Character Defining Elements

Character-defining elements of 7011 Ash Street include: · The form of the house typical of a Craftsman bungalow, including its rectangular shape, single-storey, symmetrical massing and central brick chimney · The side gable roof of the house and the front gable roof of the verandah · The open front verandah with square tapered columns, curved pediment, and matching tapered columns on the stairway · The building cladding, which is painted cedar shingle above and clapboard below · The windows, which are wood sash casement, three lower panes in the front façade and two on the remaining facades, with decorative transoms above · Decorative details including scrolled triangular eave brackets and window and door surrounds with crown molding

History

Henry Paring Pellen Crease received a Crown Grant for Sections 10 and 15, R6W B4N in May 1881. Born in Cornwall, England, in 1825, Henry Crease graduated from Cambridge University as a lawyer. He emigrated to Vancouver Island in 1858 and began practicing as a barrister. In 1860, he was appointed to the Vancouver Island House of Assembly and, one year later, became Attorney General of the Colony of British Columbia. He continued in this position until the union of the colonies in 1871 when he was named Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Prior to his death in 1905, he was knighted in England. Most of Section 15, including Lots 19 and 20, was purchased in 1905 by John Robert Ross. Section 15 had been subdivided prior to the sale to Ross. John Ross is best known for his association with the cannery at Terra Nova. Duncan Rowan, the son of John and Margaret Rowan, came to British Columbia from Kincardine, on Lake Huron in Ontario, in 1878. Sometime between 1890 and 1896, Duncan, his brother John, and a friend from Kincardine, John Robert Ross, built a cannery at Terra Nova. John Ross owned the Ash Street property until 1910, when it was transferred to Priscilla Hunt. William Edmund Hawkes acquired the land in 1913, approximately the time the house was though to have been constructed. In 1918, Lots 19 and 20 were acquired jointly by two real estate agents. It is possible that this transfer of land was due to circumstances related to World War I. In 1919 the two lots were purchased by John Blois, a farmer, who owned the land with his wife until 1933. The 1936 Waterworks Atlas shows a house facing Granville Avenue with a barn and another outbuilding to the rear; it is possible that the Blois’ built the house and farmed the property, giving a range of possible construction dates 1912 (from the original Richmond inventory) to 1919. The property was transferred as two lots (19 and 20) until 1941, when the property was subdivided, with the house and its outbuildings remaining on the east half of Lot 20. In 1971, this property was subdivided into two lots, 57 and 58, and the house was moved onto Lot 58, facing Ash Street. The history of the property reflects a number of themes in the history of Richmond: · Land speculation occurring early in the 20th century in West Richmond · Small lot subdivision prior to World War I that created a number of smaller farms in the West Richmond area · Popularity of the Craftsman Bungalow housing style in Canada and Richmond in the first decades of the 20th century (1915-1920, about) · Use of published designs in catalogues and magazines · Accessibility of well designed houses by the middle and working class · Development of improved transportation, dyking and drainage in Richmond’s interior · Development of civic facilities in the new Town Centre area beginning with the move of City Hall from the Middle Arm to its current location · Subsequent subdivision of the small farm holdings in the 1950s – 1971 was late, the area maintained its original urban pattern longer than some

Architectural Significance

Architectural Style

Craftsman Bungalow

Building Type

Domestic

Design Features

The house is rectangular in plan with a concrete foundation. The roof is a side gable with front gable verandah. The house is symmetrical, with the verandah centred in the front façade, and a window on each side, while the side facades have two windows on the lower floor and one on the upper, symmetrically spaced. The building cladding is cedar shingle above on the first floor, with a course of clapboard below which extends to the floor of the verandah. The verandah has two square tapered columns at the corners, and two at the bottom of the stairs of five risers. The stairs are wood with enclosed railings clad in shingle and clapboard, and the verandah gable has an arched pediment, clad in shingles. The roof cover is asphalt shingles, presumably covering original cedar shingles. The windows are wooden sash casement with decorative transoms above, and are surrounded by wood trim. The front door is wood with six glass panes in the upper portion. The building has been painted, and is now two shades of moss green with red stairs, dark brown door and white trim. The house has a central brick chimney, and decorative elements including the door and window trim with crown molding, capped tapered columns, prominent verandah roof fascia, and triangular eave brackets. Interior details are unknown.

Construction Method

Wood frame construction.

Landscape Significance

Landscape Element

While the house has been relocated, the remaining landscape features, such as trees, reflect the original settlement patterns, and fruit trees represent orchard traces on the site. Landscape features directly around the house appear to be recent additions.

Integrity

Alterations:The original context of the house has been altered due to its relocation. The house has been repainted and the front steps and foundation skirting have been replaced. The house retains much of its original character, and alterations, with the exception of context, appear to be minor.
Original Location: No. Originally occupying a large corner lot, the house was moved to face Ash Street when the corner lot was subdivided in the 1970s.
Lost: No

Condition

The house is in very good condition.

Documentation

Evaluated By: Denise Cook, BLA, PBD (Public History)
Evaluation Date: Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Inventory Sheets by Foundation Group Designs, January 1990 “Heritage Inventory Phase II” by Foundation Group Designs May 1989 Richmond, Child of the Fraser by Leslie J. Ross 1979 City of Richmond Archives Reference Files, Heritage Buildings Title search to Crown Grant, B.C. Land Title Office Waterworks Atlas 1936, CRA Historical airphotos from UBC Geography History of Canadian Architecture, Hal Kalman