810 Hendryx Street
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
Hochelaga, at 810 Hendryx Street, is a two and-a-half storey wood house with a generous main floor verandah on the northern two-thirds of the house. It is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of Hendryx and Carbonate Streets in the Uphill neighbourhood of Nelson, B.C.
HERITAGE VALUE
The house at 810 Hendryx Street is recognized as one of the more important early houses in Nelson for its sprawling nature, fine detailing, location on a large lot of land, and its association with the managerial class in Nelson.
Constructed in 1899 by George MacFarland, Hochelaga was designed by local architect A.E. Hodgins for Arthur H. Buchanan, the first manager of the Bank of Montreal in Nelson. Acquired by the Bank of Montreal in 1900, the building is one of a collection of impressive company-owned houses built for the managerial class in the city. The house is interesting for the story accompanying its construction as much as for its physical attributes. Coverage in the local papers made much of its great size and high building cost, an example of the heady boosterism that accompanied the transition of Nelson from a commercial town to a respectable administrative centre with cultural pretensions in the early 20th century. ”Hochelaga” (the aboriginal Iroquoian name for Montreal) helped distinguish the neighbourhood and the city as a place of cultural refinement at this turning point in the city’s fortunes.
The house is important for its design, exhibiting a transition from High Victorian, seen in the extensive verandah and exterior design details, to Late Victorian, exhibited by the horizontal massing, controlled embellishments and uniform floor plan.
From the City of Nelson Heritage Register, Page 34