Description du lieu patrimonial

The Houston Milk House consists of a small (10' x 8'), 1 storey rectangular wooden shed, with a peaked roof that significantly overhangs the entrance door. It is located in the Greater Vancouver Regional District's Derby Reach Regional Park in NW Langley, British Columbia.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Houston Milk House is important for its historic and educational significance.

The milk house (date of construction unknown) was an integral part of the Houston's dairy farm during the first half of the 20th Century. Fresh milk was regularly stored inside and then picked up for delivery to the local market. The sunken concrete trough located along one length of the inside of the milk house was filled with cold water and the milk cans were placed in it to keep them cool. This shows the practical methods of the dairy business at a time before electricity and is a rare example of an early milk house.

The milk house is an integral part of the Houston farmsite, which stands on what was originally land occupied by the first Hudson's Bay Company Fort in 1827 and later by the Townsite of Derby (1858-60). It is a focal point for Derby historical interpretation.

The Houston farmsite reminds visitors that resource-based industries found throughout the province (mining, logging and fishing) were only some of the major forces shaping British Columbia in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. The resource-based industries were comprised primarily of single men, while the small farms were comprised of families. Small-scale family farms like this one provided an economic base for the industries mentioned above, and they provided the social stability that was necessary for a growing colony.

Source: Langley Centennial Museum Heritage Files

Éléments caractéristiques

The character defining elements of the Houston Milk House include:
- Location next to the Alex Houston House
- Formal architectural qualities, such as its overall shape and size, its gable roof with deep overhang over the entrance, and irregularly placed windows
- Original materials, such as the concrete base, the wood frame construction and siding, vertical corner boards, the trough inside the house
- The inscription on the concrete pad that reads: 'Derby May 19 1935'