Patterson House has been a site of snow-day fun in the Edmonds neighbourhood since the early 1900s.
The house was part of a parcel of land at the corner of Kingsway and Edmonds Street, owned by Dugald Campbell Patterson.
The first photo was taken in 1910, but the building completion date is listed in the archives as 1911.
It was renovated in 1912 for the visit of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught, who was Governor-General of Canada at the time.
“It was the fancy house, and the Duke and Duchess stayed here,” Dave Myles, one of the current residents, told the NOW.
The house was notable in those days for another reason, according to Myles.
“This house had the first flush toilet of all of B.C., and he was so proud of it,” Myles said of Patterson. “You could see the big tank outside the back of the house.”
Patterson, a prominent city pioneer who moved to Burnaby in 1894, served in the First World War and came home in a wheelchair. When he returned to Burnaby, he began writing and pressing for environmental preservation in the city.
“He was actually writing back in the ’30s about why they should be protecting the streams and not cutting down the trees near streams in Burnaby,” Myles said. “He was like an environmentalist ahead of his time.”
His book of poetry was published before his death in 1931.
The house has continued to be a unique fixture in the area. In 1955, it was moved from 7260 Edmonds St. to its current location at 7106 18th Ave.
Myles and Luci Baha bought the home in 1986.
“We’re really proud of the house,” Myles said. “It’s one of the few Edwardian heritage homes in Burnaby.”
In the early ’90s, they sold it to a developer – MacLean Management Ltd.
The company built a townhouse development behind the house, while agreeing to restore it to its 1912 splendor, Myles said. He continues to live in the home.
“What makes it even quirkier is, I’m actually part of a townhouse division,” he says.
