Description of Historic Place

The Flick Residence is a one and one-half storey vernacular wood-frame cottage, with several later additions. Originally a farm house, it now sits on a subdivided lot in a garden setting. It is located close to 56th Street in the Tsawwassen area of Delta, across the street from the Boundary Bay Cemetery.

Heritage Value

The Flick Residence is valuable as the oldest and last surviving early settler's cottage in Tsawwassen, and represents the original development of agricultural land in the Tsawwassen area, which was some of the richest farmland in the Lower Mainland. Following the construction of a dyke in 1892, the area along the western shore of Boundary Bay developed into a thriving farm community, and the proximity of this cottage to the original Point Roberts Road represents the close connections between the communities on both sides of the Canadian-American border. The repeated subdivision of this original farm property into suburban lots demonstrates the continuing residential development of Tsawwassen, which was spurred by the opening of the Deas Island (now George Massey) Tunnel in 1959.

The Flick Residence is a prime example of an early vernacular farm cottage. Enos Flick, a Pennsylvania Dutchman and craftsman, cleared his eight hectare forested lot to start a chicken ranch and in 1907 built the first section of this meticulously constructed home. It also represents the typical evolution of early farm houses, that expanded as families prospered and grew. The cottage was substantially enlarged by subsequent owners, Robert and Neva Genge, who farmed the property and lived in the house until the mid-1950s.

Source: Corporation of Delta

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Flick Residence include its:
- location, set very close to the original eastern boundary of the property on 56th Street, across the street from the Boundary Bay Cemetery
- modest vernacular cottage form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half storey height, regular, rectangular plan and later additions
- cross-gabled roof with slightly flared eaves and internal red-brick chimney
- wood-frame construction with horizontal wooden drop siding with cornerboards
- variety of window types including: double-hung 1-over-1 and 2-over-2 wooden sash windows in double assembly, some with segmental arched upper sashes; and upper storey, multi-paned wooden sash casement windows