Description of Historic Place

The McCrimmon Residence consists of a two-storey, Stick/Carpenter Gothic residence on a city lot at the historic Five Corners intersection of Murrayville in Langley, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

Built circa 1889, the McCrimmon Residence is important for its historical, aesthetic and cultural values.

Its historical significance lies in the fact that the house is a rare example of a gracious home that also served as the community's first post office. Residents collected their mail from the verandah, making this house an essential site for early communication on both a local and an outside level. The McCrimmon Residence is strongly associated with the McCrimmon family, who built the house, ran the post office and who were an influential and active family in the community.

The house has strong aesthetic values which can be found in its environmental setting. It is a landmark building at the Five Corners intersection that complements the other historic structures in the area. Just as this intersection and its resulting buildings were an early centre for communication and transportation connecting Vancouver and New Westminster with the interior of the province, this house served the same function within the community by connecting neighbours with each other and with the world outside. The McCrimmon House has always served and continues to serve the community around it (hotel, post office, municipal offices, law offices, dental and naturopathy offices).

Further aesthetic values can be found in the architectural style and design of the house, which is visually pleasing. The form and detailing remain virtually intact and are structurally sound. It has architecturally interesting elements, such as its dynamic roof line, wraparound verandah, and gingerbread Gothic detailing. The property retains some of its original planting, in particular a row of five Lombardy Poplars planted in 1929.

The McCrimmon Residence has strong cultural values through its tradition of serving the community over its lifetime. It is a physical link to an earlier time and place, to an historically important family and to the vital Five Corners intersection. It is a prized representation to the community of its local history, and of its place as a crucial communication and transportation link for the growing province.

Source: Langley Centennial Museum Heritage Files.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the McCrimmon Residence include its:
- Residential form, scale and massing, as reflected in the L-shaped footprint of the building, asymmetrical front facade, and intersecting gabled roof
- Gingerbread Gothic exterior detailing
- Wrap-around verandah
- Number and size of window openings
- Early landscape features, including a row of five Lombardy Poplars