Description of Historic Place

The Bevan Houses are a grouping of 37 standard model wood-frame, one-storey, hip-roof houses with front porches, located on Dunsmuir, Penrith, Maryport and Windermere Avenues between Fifth and Seventh Streets in Cumberland, BC. The houses were built as company homes for mineworkers' families in nearby Bevan in 1910-1912 and were relocated to Cumberland in 1918.

Heritage Value

Constructed in 1910-1912, the Bevan Houses have historical and social value for their association with Bevan, a former mining townsite laid out by the Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd. in 1910, adjacent to Mine No. 7, to house the miners' families. They stand testament to the approximately 100 identical company houses built at Bevan between 1910 and 1912, and to the typical layout and character of early BC mining townsites, which often featured standard company mining house models for the workers' families as well as a local-serving store, hotel, post office and school, as was the case in Bevan. The buildings also hold historical value for their large-scale relocation story in 1918 due to mining activity reduction in the No. 7 Mine seam, reducing the number of mineworkers needed in Bevan. A total of 37 known Bevan Houses were relocated 7 kilometres from Bevan to an extension of Cumberland, initially known as the New Townsite (or Townsite), a residential subdivision developed to serve the Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd.'s active mines at the time. The enduring ownership model of these buildings even after relocation, is an important representation of early BC mining business models - the houses remained rentals available only to the Colliery employees, and ownership by the company was retained until 1959 when it left the mining industry on Vancouver Island. The Bevan Houses hold aesthetic value as early 20th-century cottages of a distinct typology, as expressed by their modest one-storey scale and simple design and floorplan. While all of the surviving bungalows have been to some degree altered from the original company design, they are all important as individual and collective Bevan Houses. They are readable as a typology for one or more characteristic: their square shape, distinguishable roofline, porch composition and/or their contextual grouping next to other Bevan Houses in the few blocks that once made-up Cumberland's New Townsite. They are now well-integrated into the heart of residential Cumberland. Finally, these historic places hold scientific and environmental value for their traditional construction techniques, for their historic, locally-sourced, low energy-intensive materials - their quality, durability and repairability - and for the embodied energy (the total energy expended over the buildings' more than 110 years lifecycle) held in the buildings. The houses are further valued for their early and ongoing adaptability and reuse, as all 37 relocated houses still survive in Cumberland, and each one models an individualized approach and evolution to contemporary living.

Character-Defining Elements

The elements that define the heritage character of the Bevan Houses are their:

- Continuous residential use since 1910/1912
- Condensed location on Dunsmuir, Penrith, Maryport and Windermere Avenues, between Fifth and Seventh Streets ("Townsite")
- Consistent residential form, massing, siting, and setbacks, representative of early BC mining townsites
- Consistent one-storey, wood-frame structure

Architectural elements associated with the Bevan Houses design, including:

- Rectangular floorplan o Low pitched hip roof
- Half- or full-width front porch with hip roof, columns and railing
- Front door centred in the front elevation with windows on either side

Common updates include:

- Full or partial enclosure of the front porch
- Rear additions, and/or front or side additions
- Attached garage

Less common updates include:

- Lifting or excavating to create an additional level

Addresses in Cumberland identified as Bevan Houses include: 2803 Windermere Ave; 2807 Windermere Ave; 2815 Windermere Ave; 2817 Windermere Ave; 2821 Windermere Ave; 2798 Maryport Ave; 2800 Maryport Ave; 2804 Maryport Ave; 2806 Maryport Ave; 2793 Maryport Ave; 2797 Maryport Ave; 2799 Maryport Ave; 2803 Maryport Ave; 2807 Maryport Ave; 2815 Maryport Ave; 2817 Maryport Ave; 2821 Maryport Ave; 2804 Penrith Ave; 2806 Penrith Ave; 2814 Penrith Ave; 2818 Penrith Ave; 2822 Penrith Ave; 2799 Penrith Ave; 2803 Penrith Ave; 2807 Penrith Ave; 2815 Penrith Ave; 2817 Penrith Ave; 2821 Penrith Ave; 2792 Dunsmuir Ave; 2796 Dunsmuir Ave; 2800 Dunsmuir Ave; 2804 Dunsmuir Ave; 2806 Dunsmuir Ave; 2814 Dunsmuir Ave; 2818 Dunsmuir Ave; 2822 Dunsmuir Ave; 2824 Dunsmuir Ave