817 Baker Street - Nelson, B.C.
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 49° 29.638 W 117° 17.344
11U E 479066 N 5482410
817 Baker Street is the second last house on the east end of the street, sitting beside 823 Baker, also a Heritage Building.
Waymark Code: WMHKWY
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 07/21/2013
Views: 2
This is a
Craftsman Style bungalow, constructed in 1909 for Walter S. Riblet, Nelson branch manager for Spokane based
Riblet Tramway Company, manufacturers of mine tramways. The
Craftsman Style became popular just after the turn of the century, with the low pitched gable roof and deep verandah, as well as uniform shingles, as opposed to the decoratively cut shingles of the Queen Anne style.
Recently renovated, the 104 year old bungalow now looks like a newly constructed building.
This house occupies number 69 on Nelson's 2011 Heritage Register update.
Description
The house at 817 Baker Street is simple cross-gabled 2- storey Arts and Crafts bungalow located on two properties west of Cedar Street on the north side of Baker Street in the centre of Nelson, B.C.
Value
The house and its landscape at 817 Baker Street is a 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 1909, the house is associated with the important period of growth and sophistication in Nelson’s history just prior to the First World War.
The house was built for Walter Riblet, the Nelson branch manager for the Riblet Tramway Company. Located in Spokane, Washington, the company produced aerial ore tramways for mine sites. It is a
good example of the type of house built for management level employees of major companies or interests in the city, and is important for its association with the economic and industrial development of Nelson.
The location of the house as part of a small residential enclave at the eastern end of Baker Street, the city’s main commercial street, is an important indicator of the limits of the early downtown commercial
district. The house is an expression of a particular way of life through its association with the development of an established middle class in the Queen City, and the traditional role of a manager’s
residence as an important representation of wealth and power.
The house is of value as a good example of bungalow design inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement, specifically its close connection of the ground floor with grade, the foundation planting that is integrated with the house architecture, and its detailing that makes fine use of local materials and craftsmanship. Along with the neighbouring house at 823 Baker Street built one year before, the house is representative of the eclectic tastes in residential design during this period of prolific house construction.
Character Defining Elements
Site and setting:
¶ Original location at the eastern end of Baker Street
¶ Association with other houses in the immediate vicinity
¶ Foundation planting
¶ Sloping site
Building and materials:
¶ Cross-gable main roof
¶ Generous front verandah under lower pitch of double-pitched main roof
¶ Original elements of the exterior: trim, shingle siding, doors and windows and their frames and trim
¶ Shed dormer with bank of windows with truly divided lites
¶ Bay on east side of house with its own shed roof