Description of Historic Place

The Floden House is a gambrel roofed, one and one-half storey plus basement wood-frame Dutch Colonial Revival residence, located at the head of the T-intersection of Fourth Street and Edmonds Street in a residential area of East Burnaby.

Heritage Value

Built in 1929-30 for Swedish emigrant Eric Birger Floden (1896-1971) and his Norwegian wife, Carrie (1899-1943), the Floden House is a valued representation of local middle-class housing from the 1920s, at a time of increasing prosperity just prior to the onset of the Great Depression. Eric Birger Floden was the head sawyer at Shook Mills in New Westminster, and his family occupied the house until 1964.

Additionally, the Floden House is significant as an example of a residential pattern book design from the 1920s. With a reviving economy after the First World War, pattern books were widely used to expedite residential design and construction. It was built by Floden's brother in-law, Nels Olund, a talented contractor of the Fraser Valley, who was experienced in building gambrel roof barns.

The Floden House is also valued as an example of the Dutch Colonial Revival style, and is typical of period revival houses built in the 1920s that reflected the modern ideals of economy and good design as well as an ongoing pride in past traditions. It was presumed at the time that a well-built house would display a traditional and readily-identifiable style as a hallmark of good taste. The use of the various Colonial Revival styles had gained new popularity during the late 1920s.

A local landmark, the house originally stood at 7997 18th Avenue and was moved two blocks to its current location by the City of Burnaby, when it purchased and rehabilitated the house to save it from demolition, indicating the City's commitment to heritage conservation.

Source: Heritage Site Files, City of Burnaby, Planning and Building Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Eric B. and Carrie Floden House include its:
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one and one-half storey plus basement height, rectangular plan and distinctive roof form
- Dutch Colonial Revival style details such as its side gambrel roof, front and rear shed dormers, attic fanlights, decorative shutters and regular fenestration
- roof configuration, with overhanging eaves on the front facade with returns on the side facades, and clipped eaves on the side facades
- asymmetrical front entry with small entry porch with lattice surrounds
- front projecting bay window
- wide lapped horizontal cedar siding
- irregular fenestration, with original double-hung 6-over-1 wooden-sash windows
- secondary side entry with balcony over
- internal red brick chimney with concrete chimney caps