Beaton House
Description of Historic Place:
The Beaton House is a one-and-a-half storey saddle-notched log house located on the east side of Fairview Road in Penticton, British Columbia. The house is notable for its low profile, log construction, extensions, prominent corner lot, and large mature gardens.
Heritage Value:
Built in 1922, the Beaton House has historic value for its association with the Beaton family, who bought it within five years of construction and lived there for seventy-five years. Bertie Beaton was a member of a pioneer family who arrived in 1906 and ran the Penticton Hotel. Her husband worked for the Kettle Valley Railway.
The house also has aesthetic value as an example of vernacular log construction. It features post and beam construction with saddle-notched logs on the main side-gabled structure and a series of shingled additions. The use of local cobblestones from Shatford creek for the fireplace construction is also significant. The original builder, Clifford Manahan, may have brought some of the cedar logs from Greenwood. The Penticton newspaper noted, on June 21, 1921, that, "It is understood that Mr. Manahan will construct a fine home along the picturesque lines of a long [sic] house." Mr. Manahan is also believed to have been involved in mining in the area.
The large mature gardens, including mature maple and chestnut trees as well as a variety of ornamental trees and shrubs, add to the aesthetic value of the house.
Character-Defining Elements:
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Beaton House include its:
- prominent corner lot location on Fairview Road
- saddle-notched cedar log construction
- deep front porch and wide steps
- extensive landscaped grounds with mature maple and chestnut trees
- massing of the house as expressed by the low-pitched side-gabled roof
- rooftop shed dormer
- angled rear property line which follows the abandoned bed of Shatford Creek
- fireplace constructed with cobblestones from Shatford Creek
- gold ore embedded in the end gables of the house and fireplace
From Historic Places Canada