Description of Historic Place

English Corners is a two and one-half storey Victorian-era British Arts and Crafts style, wood-frame residence, notable for its prominent cross-gabled roof, complex and picturesque massing, and projecting verandahs and balconies with scroll-cut screens. It is located on a prominent corner lot on Royal Avenue, with its front entrance facing Park Row.

Heritage Value

Built in 1891-92, English Corners is valued as an excellent and early local example of the British Arts and Crafts movement of the Late Victorian era. Prevalent throughout Britain in the mid to late-nineteenth century, the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement was just beginning to reach British Columbia at this time, and strongly affected the architects of this house, English-born Richard Prior Sharp (born 1859) and New Westminster native, Samuel Maclure (1860-1929). Maclure is remembered as the leading residential architect in British Columbia in the early twentieth century, and as a staunch proponent of Arts and Crafts design. The overall complex massing, cross-gabled roofline, half-timbered gables and varied claddings reflect traditional British antecedents, and the Arts and Crafts aesthetic is reflected in the construction, using locally-available building materials, and in the fine craftsmanship and materials, including ornate scroll-work and brackets on the exterior, and a functional and beautiful interior with intricate woodwork. The decorative stained glass panel in the hallway is an early example of the work of Henry Bloomfield and Sons, the first art glass firm in Western Canada, established in New Westminster in 1890.

English Corners is further valued as a reflection of the early development of New Westminster, and the character of the Queen's Park neighbourhood, New Westminster's most prestigious residential district. At the time of its construction this location in New Westminster was regarded as "Nabob Hill", one of the most desirable and genteel residential locations that attracted many prominent Royal City families to build high-class residences. English Corners, one of the largest homes in the area, reflects the lifestyle and aspirations of the city's successful and prosperous elite.

Additionally, English Corners is valued for its association with Marshall Martin English (circa 1840-1897), a local leader in the salmon canning industry. English and his wife, Mary, arrived in Canada in 1877, and settled in Brownsville, across the Fraser River from New Westminster, the location of some of the earliest salmon canning activities on the North Pacific coast. English became one of the key members of a group of men, including James Laidlaw, Alexander McEwen, James Syme, and Thomas Ladner, who were instrumental in the development and evolution of the B.C. fishing and fish processing industry, one of the main economic forces that drove the province's early development.

Source: City of New Westminster Heritage Planning Files

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of English Corners include its:
- corner location on Royal Avenue, facing Park Row
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its two and one-half storey plus basement height and asymmetrical, compound plan
- complex and picturesque roofline, including: cross-gabled roof with gable projections; shed roof dormers; pent roofs in the gable ends; and broad, closed eaves
- wood-frame construction with red-brick foundation
- British Arts and Crafts style elements such as: stucco and half-timbering in the gable ends; varied surface textures including bevelled wooden drop siding on the first-storey, bellcast shingle siding on the second storey and octagonal shingles in the gable peak; prominent central tall, red-brick, three-flue chimney with corbelled cap; and corner cutaway bay window decorated with brackets with a sunburst design and drop finial
- additional exterior features such as: stacked, first and second storey open verandahs with lathe-turned columns, scroll-cut column brackets and "wave" motif screens; and hipped roof verandah (subsequently enclosed) on the northeast side
- fenestration, including: double-hung wooden-sash 1-over-1 windows with narrow multi-paned transoms; and intricate stained glass window assembly with painted floral and bird motifs
- associated landscape features such as a granite retaining wall with sandstone coping, and steps to Royal Avenue
- interior features include: a large, central two storey hall with carved maple staircase; stained glass windows; fireplace with cedar-panelled inglenook located under the stairs; massive cedar pocket doors and cedar coffered ceiling; library located off the stair landing with angled fireplace and cedar mantle and decorative iron grate and cover; dining room with cedar wall panelling and curly maple mantle; servants stair hall and staircase; cedar wooden window and door casings; and fir floors.