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Online Heritage Inventory

Cannery House

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of Cannery House
Click to see full image
Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: Cannery House
Address: 2680 River Road
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Thompson
Construction Date: 1912
Current Owner: Private
Designated: No

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
Most likely a cannery worker’s residence, the Cannery House is a rectangular, utilitarian wood frame house with a small front porch, set within the Terra Nova group of heritage buildings of similar age. The house is constructed in the centre of its lot, which also contains two other small dwellings, one at the road edge and one at the rear.

 Statement of Values
The primary heritage value of the cannery house is its historical association with the Terra Nova Cannery, which was directly responsible for this and other, similar buildings which together formed a cluster of cannery-related structures. The Cannery House, Edwardian Cottage, and Cannery House & Store, along with several farmhouses from the same time period, create a precinct and lend an historic character to the western end of River Road.
A rare example of company housing provided for workers at the Terra Nova cannery, the Cannery House is considered to be a good example of a utilitarian cannery building which has connections with early industrial activity in the area.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· The typical narrow form of the utilitarian structures associated with cannery operations
· Its Terra Nova location within a core group of historic building relating to the early development of the area
· The distance of the house from River Road, and its relationship to two other buildings located at the front and rear of the lot
· Significant domestic garden remnants including a variegated holly tree thought to be approximately the same age as the house.
· The agricultural setting seen in the fields to the south of the house.

 History
Most likely a cannery worker’s residence, the Cannery House is a rectangular, utilitarian wood frame house with a small front porch, set within the Terra Nova group of heritage buildings of similar age. The house is constructed in the centre of its lot, which also contains two other small dwellings, one at the road edge and one at the rear.

 Architectural Significance
Architectural Style
Utilitarian Cottage

 Building Type
Domestic

 Design Features
The Cannery house is a long narrow rectangle in plan. It is supported on a post and block foundation. It has a front gable roof with a shed roof porch with exposed rafter ends at the front and a shed roof addition to the rear. The front porch has side walls with windows. The roof cover is asphalt shingle, and the house is clad in horizontal lapped siding, of both narrow and wide widths. The windows are double hung wooden sash, with panes six over six. It has a side offset chimney and is painted white with cream trim. The original colour is unknown.

 Construction Method
Wood frame construction

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
Significant Trees, Character Garden, and Cultural Landscape

 Design Attributes
The Cannery House and Store has traces of the significant garden seen to the rear of the lot. The large English Holly and Variegated English Holly are thought to be approximately the same age as the house, and are among the oldest such specimens in Richmond. As part of the grouping of buildings associated with the Terra Nova Cannery, this can also be considered a cultural landscape.

 Integrity
Alterations
There are some minor alterations to the porch of the house, but otherwise no major alterations are apparent. There is some settling and deterioration evident.

 Original Location
Yes

 Condition
The building is considered to be in fair condition

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Denise Cook BLA, PBD (Public History)

 Date
Sunday, September 24, 2000

 Documentation
Inventory Sheets by Foundation Group Designs, January 1990
“Heritage Inventory Phase II” by Foundation Group Designs May 1989
“Richmond, Child of the Fraser” by Leslie J. Ross 1979
Richmond Archives Item no. 1977 15 33

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