Richmond’s McKinney House from the Sears Roebuck Catalogue

Ron Hyde

Richmond pioneers James and Jane McKinney bought 80 hectares of Richmond farmland. McKinney was interested in plantbreeding and developed the loganberry, a cross between a blackberry and a raspberry, that grew well in Richmond soil.

During the US Prohibition, McKinney purchased a small California winery and moved the wine-making equipment to his Richmond farm. He named the operation Myrtena Winery after his daughter Myrtle and his daughterin-law Christina. The winery made up to 600,000 gallons of loganberry wine each year from 1924 through 1934 when it closed.

While the loganberry farm flourished, the mosquitos also did well in the swampy land. James moved his family back to Vancouver in 1908, then back to Richmond’s Lulu Island. Jane McKinney had been adamant that any return to Richmond would only be to the most luxurious home in town. James could afford it; he was a businessoriented man, operated a winery, was the local undertaker, and was active in the early land development in Steveston.

In 1911, the Sears Roebuck catalogue offered a basic house package that included the construction lumber, all the interior woodwork, building paper, eavestroughs, hardware, and painting materials; the package would arrive with each board and nail numbered—to be put together much like a jigsaw puzzle. The catalogue promised that, allowing a fair price for labour, a 9-room, 3-storey house could be built for $2130. The company paid the customers’ train fare to its Chicago warehouse so they could select from many extras including a solid-oak dining table and extension for $6.65, and a 56-piece gold-burnished dinner set for $7.48.

Sears Roebuck sold approximately 45,000 homes through its mail-order system between 1908 and 1938. The buyer could purchase just the house plans and have a local builder do the basic framing.

McKinney bought the plans from Sears Roebuck, obtained knot-free lumber from New Westminster’s Fraser Mills, and hired two builders to construct the frame. With the basic framing completed, McKinney purchased special options from the Sears Roebuck Chicago warehouse for his new mansion—doors, windows, mirrors, light fixtures, railings, a cast-iron bathtub, and lovely beveled-glass windows at a cost of $2026.

The McKinneys were active in the United Church, the School Board, and the Liberal party.

Located at No. 2 Road and Steveston Highway, the house was a showpiece in Steveston for many years. In 1948, the McKinneys sold the home to the Scollon family who attempted to sell the property in 1991 to a developer who agreed

Myrtena Winery Courtesy Canadian Museum of History McKinney House on Steveston Hwy. Courtesy Richmond Archives

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to sell the building to historian and retired architect Curtis Eyestone for $1—providing the land could be commercially zoned. The Council said no and kept the zoning residential.

The house continued to deteriorate. A gang of bikers broke in and started a fire on the main floor; fortunately the men in the firehall across the street saw the flames and extinguished them before too much damage was done. Vandals smashed windows and ripped out fittings. No heat was on over the Winter so the piping and decorated radiators burst.

Architect Eyestone finalized his $1 offer and received Council permission to move the house to his property on Dyke Road, adjacent to London Heritage Farm.

Map showing original location of McKinney House and new location

McKinney House on Dyke Road Photo courtesy www.historicplaces.ca

The 11.9-metre-wide house could not be moved down No. 2 Road as it was wider than the space between the utility poles on the sides of the road. The move was scheduled to go one-half-mile east on Steveston Highway, then south on Gilbert to Dyke Road. Crews were organized to move hydro poles and lines, phone and cable wires, traffic signals, highway signs, street lights, and dyke barricades.

The house had to be prepared for the move—7500 bricks removed from two chimneys and all intact windows and frames removed and crated. All doors, radiators, and the steam-heat piping in the basement were removed to allow the house to be raised for moving. The spaces from the missing chimneys, doors, and windows had to be filled in, to prevent the house from collapsing. The basement walls and siding were removed and put aside to be reinstalled after the move. On August 7, the 4-km relocation took place in just over 3 hours.

All the restoration work was accomplished in a tight 3-week period.

The house was fully restored on its new lot. The lovely historic home overlooking the south arm of the Fraser River is still located adjacent to London Heritage Farm at 6511 Dyke Road.

Next time you are coming to Richmond, have a look at the interesting London farm house and the lovely McKinney home next door. s Ron Hyde is a member of the B.C. Historical Federation.

References

Time and Tide: The Settlement of Lulu Island’s South Arm Shore, Mary Keen City of Richmond Archives McKinney Restoration Project: Curtis Eyestone Vancouver Sun: Jes Odam, July 19, 1993 Richmond Review: April 23, 1994, article by Dovelle Buie for the City of Richmond Archives Richmond News: April 19, 2018 Steveston Museum Society www.communitystories.ca flickr.com/photos/claytonPerry/7151480483