Description of Historic Place

The historic place is a one-and-one-half-storey (plus basement) single-family house at 836 Thirteenth Street. It is located on a single residential lot in the West End neighbourhood. The level lot is located on the east side of Thirteenth Street, directly across the street from the former grounds of the Providence Orphanage, which has been replaced by condominiums. A large coniferous tree grows on the north side of the lot. The front-gable vernacular house has a non-original enclosed porch that wraps around the southeast corner. The exterior walls are finished with composite siding on the ground floor and horizontal lapped wooden siding on the upper floor. There is no lane behind the property.

Heritage Value

836 Thirteenth Street has value for its association with the early development of the West End neighbourhood of New Westminster. The property became privately owned only in 1907, and the house was probably constructed in 1907-08, making it among the earliest to be built in the area as it was transformed from agricultural land to an urban neighbourhood.

The house has architectural value as an example of the gable-end vernacular house of its day, often called ‘Edwardian Vernacular’. Although considerably altered, the original form, two bays wide with the upper floor within the slope of the roof, can be read clearly.

Source: City of New Westminster Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the residence at 836 Thirteenth Street include its:

- location in the historic West End neighbourhood of New Westminster
- moderate setback from street on a corner lot
- residential form, expressed by the moderate scale, rectangular floor plan, and one-and-one-half-storey height with a basement
- medium-pitched gabled roof with overhanging eaves
- horizontal lap siding on second storey and square-cut cedar-shingle siding on gabled ends
- red-brick chimney
- intact window sills and casings on windows throughout the house