Urquhart House - Vernon, BC - British Columbia Heritage Markers on Waymarking.com

URQUHART HOUSE

2501 – 23rd Avenue

Description of Historic Place
The Urquhart House, built in 1912, is a one-and-one-half-storey Arts and Crafts bungalow located at 2501 23rd Avenue in Vernon.

Heritage Value
The Urquhart House is valued as an important example of the English Arts and Crafts bungalow style in a mature setting. The house comprises a central side-gabled front with two front-gabled ends. The house is richly decorated with the vernacular and indigenous materials favored by the Arts and Crafts movement. The use of cobblestones for the foundation and tall chimneys, the shingle cladding, and the half-timbering and roughcast stucco in the eaves are all typical of the style.

Other high-style details include the decorative verge posts, the fenestration with leaded-glass windows, the porch with tapered posts and decorative brackets, and the shed dormers. The house is complemented by a carriage house designed with the same Arts and Crafts details as the house and surmounted by an octagonal dovecot. The sloping grounds with mature trees and iron fence with cobblestone posts are an important part of the original estate plan. The Craftsman interior includes fir paneling, a stone fireplace, and an inglenook.

The Urquhart House is further valued for its association with Otto Beeston Hatchard (1879-1945), its architect. Hatchard was born in London, England, and trained as an architect, attending the London Polytechnic School of Arts and Crafts. In 1905, he moved to Sudan to take on the role of Chief Architect for the government. He designed many public buildings in Port Sudan and Khartoum. In 1910, he moved to Vernon to establish an architectural practice. He immediately started to build homes with Arts and Crafts and Craftsman designs. Extant examples include the Patricia Ranch House and Kinloch House, and Hatchard’s own house on 23rd Street, which he called a 'Sussex Bungalow'. Hatchard’s chosen builder for these projects was Robert Ford. All his homes exhibit the highest levels of craftsmanship.

The house is also notable for its association with its owners. While little is known of Mr. Urquhart, the original owner, subsequent owners included James Vallance, owner of Vernon Hardware Company, Dr. Hugh Alexander, one of two surgeons in Vernon during World War II, and Dr. Rudy Fischer, co-founder of Vernon’s first x-ray clinic.

From the Vernon Heritage Register