An Alexander Carrie house, this 1 1/2 story bungalow was constructed in 1908 for George Motion, a Nelson businessman and manager of the West Transfer Company. The house is an excellent example of Late Victorian Vernacular, with prominent asymmetrical gables, barge boards, diamond panes and bay windows. Somewhat similar to High Victorian, its horizontal massing makes it Late Victorian.
In a state of excellent preservation, the building is now used for various medical offices.
This house occupies number 70 on Nelson's 2011
Heritage Register update.
Description
823 Baker Street is a 2-storey wood-framed bungalow with front verandah. It is located on the northwest corner of the intersection of Baker and Cedar Streets, on the eastern edge of the core commercial area of Nelson, B.C.
Value
The house at 823 Baker Street is important for its cultural and aesthetic values, particularly as a fine example of houses built for the managerial class in Nelson in the early 20th century.
Constructed in 1908, the house is significant as a representative of the housing stock developed for the managerial class that developed in Nelson during its years of expansion, just prior to the First World War.
Designed by prominent local architect Alexander Carrie, the house was built in 1908 for George Motion, a Nelson businessman who owned a local grain, feed, and provisions business. In 1901, Mr. Motion became the owner of the West Transfer Company, which shipped coal, wood, and
commodities for Imperial Oil. These activities were representative of the general prosperity of Nelson at the time, cementing the city’s role as a transportation hub for the forestry and mining industries, and as the centre for a developing agricultural sector in the West Kootenay. The West Transfer Company was operated by Mr. Motion’s widow Augusta for many years until her death in 1964.
The location of the house is important as a marker of the limits of the downtown commercial district.
Situated near the headquarters of the companies that George Motion managed, the house shows that the eastern end of Baker Street provided a prestigious address near the commercial pulse of the city
during the early boom years.
Particularly when contrasted with the 1909 Arts and Crafts Walter Riblet bungalow next door, the house’s picturesque, almost Victorian, character reflects the eclecticism of Nelson’s residential
building styles of the time.
Character Defining Elements
Site and setting:
¶ Original location at the eastern end of Baker Street
¶ Association with other houses in the immediate vicinity, particularly 817 Baker Street
¶ Sloping site
¶ Corner site
Building and materials:
¶ Main hipped roof with several gabled dormers
¶ Banks of wood windows with truly-divided sash (particularly those facing east)
¶ Good use of eastern exposure
¶ Stone foundation, seen particular on the north façade
¶ Stonework
¶ diamond paned windows, bay windows
¶ Drop siding
¶ Decorative shingling
¶ Bargeboards with widened curved tails
¶ Wood trim, corner boards and water table
¶ wooden doors, door fittings
¶ Large verandah near grade wrapping around the public front and east facades
¶ Original gas light fixture
¶ Hardwood floors, staircase, banister
¶ Wrought iron fence original to the home