Thousands drive by it every day but the fate a boarded-up historic house on Ladner Trunk Road remains unclear.
The former manager's house on what was the large Burns Ranch, at the northeast corner of Ladner Trunk Road and 72nd Street, remains unoccupied.
The house, located on what was formerly Heath Road, was part of the 6,000-acre Dominic Burns farm holdings, built in 1908 by James Leonard of Delta. It’s not on Delta’s Heritage Register.
The Burns family ran a successful cattle business and an international chain of butcher stores.
Burns Bog is named after Dominic Burns, who purchased the “Great Delta Bog” in 1906 for $26,000.
Burns and his brother reportedly wanted to clear out the bog to raise cattle and sheep, but the cows were too heavy and got stuck in the bog, eventually forcing Burns to move his operation elsewhere.
In 2015 the historic Kittson House further down on Ladner Trunk Road, which was built in 1907, was demolished.
At that time, Delta's heritage commission looked at various ideas to save that house, which had fallen into extreme disrepair, but to no avail. It also wasn't on the heritage register.
A few years earlier, the historic Friesen Residence on the same stretch of Ladner Trunk Road also saw the wrecking ball.
