Description of Historic Place

The Frank & Leah Purvis Residence is a one-and-one-half-storey wood-frame, side-gabled Period Revival bungalow. It is situated on the east side of Fourth Street in the historic Queen’s Park neighbourhood in New Westminster. Noteworthy features include a front-entry porch with a hipped roof supported by two columns and two front-gabled dormers.

Heritage Value

Built in 1939, the Frank & Leah Purvis Residence is significant for its association with the ongoing development of Queen’s Park during the interwar period. The historic character of Queen’s Park is based on its consistent streetscapes of fine restored homes, augmented by mature landscaping.

Furthermore, the Frank & Leah Purvis Residence is valued as an example of Period Revival architecture and illustrates a conscious shift to a simpler style, facilitated by the social and economic consciousness of the interwar period. At the time, houses were expected to display some sort of historical reference in order to demonstrate the owner’s good taste. This was especially important in the more prestigious neighbourhoods such as Queen’s Park and demonstrates an underlying conservatism in this tightly-knit neighbourhood. An efficient and rational floor plan, including rooms closely arranged around a central hallway, reflected the reality that most families could no longer afford domestic help. The first owners were long-time New Westminster residents, Francis William Purvis (1887-1981) and his wife Leah (née Marshall, 1896-1980).

Source: City of New Westminster Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Frank & Leah Purvis Residence include its:
- location on Fourth Street, in the historic Queen’s Park neighbourhood
- residential form, scale and massing, as expressed by its one-and-one-half-storey height, full basement, side-gabled roof with boxed eaves, and front entry porch with hipped roof supported by two columns
- wood-frame construction including cedar shingle roofing
- external and internal red-brick chimneys
- window, such as six-over-one double-hung wooden-sash windows in double and triple assembly, stained glass inset in front door, and one-over-one double-hung windows in front gable dormers