Built in 1897 for Nelson's third mayor, this house possesses much of its original detailing and fixtures, both inside and outside. This would have been one of the very first houses constructed on Silica Street.
Interestingly, the grounds of this house contain apple trees presented to Nelson's mayor in 1953 by Queen Elizabeth II.
This house occupies number 16 on Nelson's 2011
Heritage Register update.
Description
The building at 306 Silica Street is a prominent 2 1/2 story house with a generous verandah on the north and east facades. The house is
located on the southeast corner of the intersection of Silica and Kootenay Streets in the lower Uphill neighborhood of Nelson, B.C.
Value
This house, built in 1897 for Nelson’s third mayor Frank Fletcher (1901 and 1902), is important for its aesthetic and cultural values, and for its association with Fletcher and another mayor, Norman Stibbs, who resided in the house from the 1930s until his death on December 17, 1972.
The late Victorian house is of historical and aesthetic interest for exhibiting the expected details of this era (stone foundations, dentils over the bay windows, and gable-end detailing) but also an overall simple form and restrained trim detailing that anticipates the Edwardian architecture of the 20th century. The grounds are important for containing ‘Coronation’ apple trees (the cultivar was so-named in 1902 to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII), presented to Mayor Stibbs in London by Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.
Built by Fletcher four years before he was elected mayor, the house and grounds show that care was taken to consolidate land to create the largest residential property in the Uphill area, to impress visitors with extensive gardens and a lawn tennis court (in the northwest corner of the property), and to generally provide a place of prestige for entertaining.
The house has value for being a good example of voluntary house conservation work carried out by the homeowners of Nelson’s Uphill neighborhood since the 1970s.
Character Defining Elements
Site
¶ Large lot size (4 1/2 regular-sized lots)
¶ Extensive granite retaining walls
¶ House location on high portion of sloping site
¶ Mature landscape planting
¶ Remains of lawn tennis court
¶ ‘Coronation’ apple trees
Building
¶ Granite foundation walls and verandah piers
¶ Three-gabled main roof
¶ Original chimneys
¶ Main Floor verandah with turned posts on north and east facades, wood latticework between piers below
¶ Original windows, double paned glass door onto verandah
¶ Rear conservatory City of Nelson June 2011
¶ Remaining original exterior building fabric: wood framing; turned columns; drop siding; cedar shingling (at gable ends and corner bay); door and window trim; decorative mouldings; brackets; soffits; fascias; and bargeboards
¶ Remaining original interior detailing: floor-to-ceiling wainscoting in foyer and dining room; five remaining original fireplaces, some complete with Wedgwood tiles; remaining elements of wood grand staircase and servants’ staircase; baseboards; paneled walls; trim; chair rails; picture rails; doors; light fixtures; annunciation system; servants quarters on the top floor; plaster walls and ceilings; wood floors throughout; remaining original Eastlake door hinges and knobs