Description of Historic Place

The two and one-half storey Loucks Residence is located on 0 Avenue, within the boundaries of Aldergrove Regional Park in Southeast Langley in the Township of Langley. The elaborate house is characterized by its prominent, wrap-around front verandah and its large wooden windows. The farmstead also includes extant barns and outbuildings.

Heritage Value

The Loucks Residence is valued for its connection to the early development of Southeast Langley, for its association with the pioneering Loucks family, and for its classical Edwardian era architectural style.

The Loucks Residence was constructed early in the development of Southeast Langley. The community was opened in earnest to settlement with the completion of the Great Northern Railway through South Langley in 1909, as well as the British Columbia Electric Railway's freight and passenger service, which began in 1910. Early settlers in the sparsely populated area maintained a relationship with the neighbouring communities, including Surrey to the west and Blaine, Washington, to the south, relying on such places for business transactions and mail service. This was typical of the farmsteads that were built near the border during the formative years of South Langley. The booming economy of the Edwardian era also helped spur development across the Lower Mainland and the Loucks Residence, built in 1912, represents the farmsteads established during this dynamic time, when demand for products exponentially grew, in order to serve the quickly expanding regional population.

The Loucks Residence is valued for its original and longstanding ownership by the Loucks family. Patriarch William Loucks was born in Bowmanville, Ontario in 1865 and eventually made his way to British Columbia, following stints in Saskatchewan and the Yukon, arriving in Langley circa 1908. He married Wilhelmina ('Minnie') Pillath in 1907; Minnie was born in Prussia in 1885 and moved with her family to Kentucky when she was two years old. She moved to Port Mann in 1903 before finding her way to Langley with her new husband. The couple lived in a log cabin on the 0 Avenue property while their new home was constructed. William and Minnie had four children, including David, who continued the farming operation of the property, which encompassed livestock, thoroughbreds, grains, hay, and vegetables, for decades after William passed away in 1933. Members of the Loucks family are recalled as active community participants: William was part of the Aldergrove Agricultural Society and Minnie was particularly known for her generosity relating to the flowers, fruits, and vegetables she distributed to neighbours and local organizations. The Loucks are also known as the first family to possess an automobile in the area. The Loucks Residence remains a tangible link to the well-known Loucks family.

The Loucks Residence is additionally significant for its classical Edwardian era architectural style. The high style of the house is rare for early farmsteads in the region, especially in South Langley. The house was constructed from quality local materials and the design references the traditional detailing of the era, including large windows, wooden trim, and thoughtful ornamentation like diamond-pattern window sashes. The curved, wrap-around verandah is one of the most prominent features of the house and it also displays a level of detail not usually seen on farmhouses, such as lathe-turned columns and decorative newel posts. The bellcast roof features a variety of dormers and the generous proportions of the house make it an outstanding example of an early Langley farmstead, which also includes barns and outbuildings that represent the enduring use of the property.

Character-Defining Elements

The elements that define the heritage character of the Loucks Residence are its:

- location along 0 Avenue, within the boundaries of Metro Vancouver's Aldergrove Regional Park;
- farmstead setting along the international border;
- residential form, scale, and massing as exemplified by its two and one-half storey height, rectangular plan, bellcast hipped roof with hipped roof dormers, gabled roof dormers with full returns, and gabled wall dormers with full returns;
- wood-frame construction including balloon framing and wooden lapped cladding;
- classical Edwardian era design, as exemplified by its wooden trim, closed soffits, wooden bargeboards and cornerboards, and its projecting wraparound, curved front verandah, accessed by two wooden staircases with decorative newel posts, and featuring lathe-turned round wooden columns with square capitals, an open wooden balustrade, tongue-and-groove flooring and a closed soffit ceiling;
- variety of wooden window assemblies, including double-hung and casement sashes; piano windows and some upper sashes featuring diamond patterning;
- wooden front door assembly; and
- associated farmstead buildings, including two gambrel-roof, wood-frame barns and a side-gabled, wood-frame agricultural building that features two working bays.