Jonathan and Brenda Fairfax House

This storybook home, returning to the Homes Tour 12 years after its 2007 debut, exemplifies heritage home interpretation in a new build. Located in New Westminster’s Brow of the Hill neighbourhood, it won the 2003 Royal City Builders Award and a People’s Choice Award for owners Brenda and Jon Fairfax, who designed and built their home using their skills in interior design, carpentry, and landscaping. The Queen Anne-style Victorian home is characterized by its wrap-around porch, angled bay windows, curvilinear turrets, and decorative trim. Its design is inspired by South Carolina's classic Victorian homes. The house complements the pre-1900 homes along Cornwall Street, contributing to the revival of heritage restoration in the area. This street was historically home to prominent New Westminster families such as the Mathesons, Frederick Robson, and Ella Berta Howay Young. The Fairfax house reflects the owners’ love of antiques and Queen Anne/Victorian-style homes. The home features a 21-foot-high foyer with a curved staircase, parlour and dining room with bay windows and arch treatments, and a parlour with an electric fireplace faced with Art Nouveau English tiles. The saloon and powder room reflect custom designs and Art Deco influences. The kitchen combines period style with modern conveniences, featuring antique-styled cabinetry. Upstairs, the formal staircase leads to the turreted “Piano Room,” a guest bathroom, office, guest bedroom, and the turreted master bedroom with a Moroccan theme and large ensuite. The large third-floor library has views of the property’s stream, pond, Fraser River, and New Westminster landscape. — by Kathleen Langstroth