Description of Historic Place

The Moir Residence consists of a simple medium sized, two storey, wood frame farm house with a covered front verandah and a particularly attractive use of fishscale shingles under the front gable. The house shares its country lot with a small collection of outbuildings and is situated on Glover Road in the Milner area of Langley.

Heritage Value

The small settlement of Milner draws its importance from its early agricultural and community development history and for its transportation value. Sited in the middle of the original Hudson's Bay Company Farm (1833), the area was one of the most fertile sites in the Fraser Valley. By 1870, the HBC no longer profited from its large holding, and so divided the land into 20 acre sites and sold them. By 1892, all the available land in the area was settled and being farmed.

The arrival of the British Columbia Electric Railway in 1910 created a burst of agricultural opportunity and prosperity by providing local farmers easy access to the markets of both New Westminster and Vancouver. It was at the intersection of Langley Trunk Road and the road to Murrayville that the BCER built a substantial station, and it was here that the village of Milner grew. By 1925, it had a cluster of commercial, residential and institutional buildings.

The Moir Residence is significant for its historic values and its strong association with the early settlement of Milner. It is one of two landmark buildings at the intersection of Glover Road and 216th Street and is architecturally interesting for its use of decorative fishscale shingles and dentils on the front gable. These elements show a desire on the part of this hardworking family to present a prosperous face to the street.

Built in 1909 by George Robert Moir, it is a typical pioneer family house of the 1910 era along this stretch of road. Its historic value also resides in its association with the blacksmithing career of Moir and his brother Frank, who worked in the next door shop until the late 1970s.

Source: Langley Centennial Museum, heritage files.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Moir Residence include the:
- Siting of the house on the main road
- Landmark role at the intersection of Glover Road and 216th Street
- Relation of building to the ground (low)
- Wood drop siding
- Fishscale shingles on the front gable
- Decorative dentils on front gable frieze
- Covered verandah on front elevation
- Entry door off-centre at left of front facade
- Tall, narrow double windows off-centre at right of front facade
- Tall, narrow 1/1 matching windows at second storey of front facade
- Number, style and placement of windows on north and south facades