Description of Historic Place

The Baldwin Residence is a two-and-a-half storey with a ground floor, wood frame, Arts and Crafts house situated on the north side of West 16th Avenue, at the most southerly point of the Fairview neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Baldwin Residence is significant for its aesthetic and historical values.

Aesthetically, the Baldwin Residence is valued for its Arts & Crafts architectural style. Typical of the style, the house is asymmetrical and picturesque with steeply pitched gabled roofs; set low to the ground. The Baldwin Residence invokes the style of a country manor.

The Baldwin Residence is valued for its connection architect of record Grant and Henderson. He opened an office in Vancouver in 1887. Between 1888 and 1892 he designed and supervised 117 projects, many of which in New Westminster. This prolific firm was responsible for many landmark buildings such as the Carnegie Library at Hastings & Main in Vancouver and the Heather Pavilion, at the Vancouver General Hospital. In 1912, Grant added H.T. Cook as a partner to the firm. During this period, the firm completed several residences, including some refined Arts and Crafts-styled residences. Grant died in Bellflower, California in 1925.

The Baldwin Residence is additionally valued for its association with its early owner, George Baldwin who resided here until 1929. In the 1910s he was a Comptroller for the City of Vancouver and in the early 1920s he served as custodian of archives. The house reflects his prominence, set in what was then within the formal boundaries of First Shaughnessy.

Character-Defining Elements

The elements that define the heritage value of the Baldwin Residence include the following:

- The placement of the residence on the property toward the east, straddling two lots
- The triangular shaped property with shallow depth and sloping elevation
- The extensive growth of several mature trees around the residence
- The stone retaining wall between east yard and back lane
- The fully exposed ground floor facing the back lane
- Its residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its two-and-one-half storey height
- Its steep-gabled roof, dormers and deep overhanging eaves
- Its pen roof soffit and exposed rafters and purlins
- The discreet inset front entrance at west side elevation
- The cedar shingle cladding with slight bell cast
- The wood frames windows and casings, multi-paned sashes, one west elevation eye-brow dormer
- The external red clinker brick chimney