Former Superintendent’s Residence

The Former Superintendent’s Residence is set in a private garden within Summerland Research Station. It is a two-storey, gable-roofed, white-painted wooden structure with porches, dormers and a second floor viewing deck. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

The Former Superintendent’s Residence is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value

The Former Superintendent’s Residence is associated with the expansion of the Experimental Farm System in Canada. It is the oldest existing structure at the Summerland Research Station. The building provided on-site accommodation for the superintendents. From 1969, the residence functioned as a combination administration building/library, and in recent years as a museum.

Architectural Value

The Former Superintendent’s Residence was built in the English cottage style and is typical of the residential architecture emerging in the 1920s. It is the only recorded example of an English cottage style residence built on Canada’s experimental farms.

Environmental Value

The Former Superintendent’s Residence is located in its own private garden. The landscape surrounding the building, originally established to provide privacy, complements the rambling horizontal emphasis of the house itself and provides a focal counterpoint to the ornamental gardens and picnic area within the station’s decorative area.

Sources: Marilyn E. Armstrong Reynolds, Former Superintendent’s Residence (now Summerland Research Station Museum), Building No. 44, Summerland Research Station, Summerland, British Columbia. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Report 89-003; Former Superintendent’s Residence, Summerland Research Station, Summerland, British Columbia, British Columbia, Heritage Character Statement 89-003.

The character-defining elements of the Former Superintendent’s Residence should be respected.

Its aesthetic design and good quality materials and craftsmanship for example:

- the two-storey asymmetrically massed structure, with a gabled roof;

- the two porches, dormers and second floor viewing deck;

- its wood construction;

- the surviving interior details, such as the woodwork, the wood and tile fireplaces, and the curved staircase;

- the room configuration.

The manner in which the Former Superintendents Residence reinforces the decorative area of Summerland Research Station as evidenced by:

- the ongoing historical relationship of the structure to the ornamental gardens and picnic area.