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Online Heritage Inventory

McCaul House

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of McCaul House
Click to see full image
Type of Resource: Building
Common Name: McCaul House
Address: 9260 Cambie Road
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Cambie
Construction Date: 1924
Current Owner: Private
Designated: No

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
The McCaul house is a two-storey Craftsman style home in a residential neighbourhood. Typical of this south block of Cambie Road, the property is long and narrow, displaying a rural character as it stretches away from the rear of the house.

 Statement of Values
The heritage value of the McCaul house lies its historical association with a transition period in Richmond in the years between the two World Wars, and in its Craftsman building style. The suburban location of the house in the Cambie neighbourhood reflects the new residential development of Richmond in the first decades of the 20th century. Richmond was becoming less reliant on fishing and agriculture and becoming more industrialized, growing into a suburban community. The need for housing for returning servicemen and women was being addressed, better transportation routes were developing, and civic facilities in the Town Centre were bringing more people to Richmond.
The McCaul house is a very good example of the late Craftsman style, popular in Richmond between the two wars, a time when the Arts and Crafts movement was making good design available to the middle class. Its landscape reflects both its suburban location and the transition from farming to residential land use.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· The late Craftsman style of the entire house, as exhibited by the shallow-pitched gable roof with exposed rafter ends and the full front verandah with open railing.
· Unique elements of the style, including the asymmetrical massing of the house, the interesting L-shaped verandah, and the location of its rectangular supporting piers with two larger ones at the front of the verandah balancing three smaller behind.
· The house has a notable level of design detail and proportioning for a housing type considered modest in its day.
· Its materials, including wood shingle exterior cladding, and wooden sash multi-pane casement windows throughout.
· The landscape character of the historic place, created by mature planting in the front yard, the long narrow lot, and the presence of the fields behind the house which reflect the agricultural origins of the neighbourhood.

 History
The McCaul house is a two-storey Craftsman style home in a residential neighbourhood. Typical of this south block of Cambie Road, the property is long and narrow, displaying a rural character as it stretches away from the rear of the house.

 Architectural Significance
Architectural Style
Late Craftsman

 Building Type
Domestic

 Design Features
The house has a rectangular plan with a concrete foundation and asymmetrical massing due to the presence of an open verandah on the north façade. The verandah is considered to be of some note because of its interesting L-shape and the location of its supporting piers. These piers are rectangular, with two larger ones at the front of the verandah balancing three smaller behind. Houses such as this were considered modest in their day and this level of design detail and proportioning are notable. The roof of the house is a front gable and the verandah has a hip roof; both are covered in asphalt shingle. The cladding of the house is wood shingle, and it has wooden sash multi-pane casement windows throughout. The building has obviously been painted; the colour is brown with cream trim.

 Construction Method
Wood frame construction.

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
The long narrow lot and the presence of the fields behind the house recall the agricultural origins of the neighbourhood. There is a mature holly tree in the front yard, and mature deciduous trees planted along the front property line conceal the yard and add to the character of the street.

 Integrity
Alterations
There are few apparent alterations.

 Original Location
Yes

 Condition
The house is considered to be in very good 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
“A History of Canadian Architecture” by Harold Kalman 1994

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