Description of Historic Place

The Medley Residence is a one-storey wood-frame Arts and Crafts bungalow, located on the west side of Third Avenue within Ioco, the early Imperial Oil Company town. The house has views south to Burrard Inlet.

Heritage Value

Built in 1924, the Medley Residence is a significant example of the type of modest housing constructed for Ioco's working population in the 1920s. It reflects the ongoing development of the Ioco townsite, which was linked to the growth of the Ioco Refinery. By January 1914, Imperial Oil had selected a location for a refinery on the North Shore of Burrard Inlet. Prior to the development of the Ioco townsite, most of the refinery workers either lived in shacks or commuted by ferry from Port Moody. To house its workers, the Imperial Oil Company contracted the Dominion Construction Company, one of Vancouver's most successful construction firms, to build forty houses on a site across from the refinery in 1921. Workers of Ioco were entitled to purchase the houses at cost and then pay for them monthly. Houses were situated strategically according to rank, and lower paid workers were allocated to the western side of the townsite. The surviving residences represent the birth of Ioco as a community company town, which included the addition of a community hall, grocery store, church and school in the 1920s.

The Medley Residence is significant for its modest Arts and Crafts details, and also for its association with its first owner, Frank Medley (1881-1933). Medley was originally from England, immigrated to British Columbia circa 1911, and was employed as a watchman by the Imperial Oil Company.

Source: City of Port Moody Heritage Planning Files

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Medley Residence include its:
- location on Third Avenue within the historic Ioco townsite, amongst other houses of similar form and scale, with views of Burrard Inlet
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one-storey plus basement height, rectangular plan with hipped roof, and two hipped-roof verandahs facing south and east
- wood-frame construction with cedar shingle siding
- Arts and Crafts details including exposed soffits and rafter tails and glazed front door
- internal and external red-brick chimneys
- variety of multi-paned windows including double-hung, 10-over-1 wooden sash windows