Good Bones. Lamb/Stirling House was battered and broken-down when the Langley Heritage Society began restoration work on this structure that featured a partly enclosed verandah and decorative arched ornamental trim. Built between 1908 – 1910 by the David Lamb family, the house was originally located on a farm at 48th Avenue.
David is reputed to have walked from Winnipeg to the west coast before the Canadian Pacific Railway was completed in 1886 (see his photo below). He was an early resident of Vancouver when the Great Fire of 1886 destroyed most of the newly incorporated city and he helped slash the brush to make Hastings and Granville Streets. Lamb moved to Murrayville (known then as Murray’s Corner) three years later to farm, and eventually had the cottage-style house built. The house was sold by Lamb to the Hockleys, and in 1922 the house and 80 acres were acquired by Alexander and Harriet Stirling who operated a cattle farm. Their son Sam and his wife Lucy farmed there from 1946 until 1960. The property remained in the family until 1990 when it was rezoned for residential development.
Murrayville is historically significant as the second village centre created in Langley, after Fort Langley. The structure became a Municipally Designated Heritage Site in the mid-1990s, and a local developer helped with moving the house to its present location where it was restored by the Langley Heritage Society.
There’s an English country garden feel to the property that connects with nearby Harrower House, also restored by the society. President Fred Pepin says after the Lamb/Stirling House was fixed up, “You could see the difference down the street, people started cleaning up their houses. In six months the street looked totally different…the impact here is enormous.”
This home is part of our Murrayville Walking Tour and is an important part of the community’s pioneer heritage. More details on tours HERE.
