Description of Historic Place

The historic place is the single-storey stucco-clad house built in 1936 and located at 870 Bernard Avenue in Kelowna's North Central neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

The house at 870 Bernard Avenue has heritage value primarily for its association with William Hughes-Games, who was prominent in Kelowna's business and civic society, and also for its representative architecture.

The house was built in 1936 by A.C. Bennett for William B. Hughes-Games (1890-1985) and his wife, Margaret. William Hughes-Games achieved prominence both in the business community and in public life. He was born in Birmingham, England, and came to Canada in 1911. He arrived in Kelowna in 1926. He worked in the Thomas Lawson Ltd. store starting in 1936. When George Meikle formed a new company (George Meikle Ltd.) to take over the store in 1937, Hughes-Games became secretary-treasurer. He served as mayor of Kelowna from 1947 to 1951 (during which time the Civic Centre, Memorial Arena, and City Hall were erected), secretary-treasurer of the Kelowna Hospital Board from 1937 to 1942, and chairman of the Okanagan Regional Library Board from 1951 to 1956.

After Hughes-Games moved to Abbott Street around 1939, the house was occupied by W.E. Vickers and his wife, Mary L. Vickers, a relative of Hughes-Games. In 1956 it was owned by L. Wall and occupied by Gordon G. Hyde and Evelyn Hyde, the former a salesman for Kelowna Sawmill Ltd.

The architecture is representative of a simpler design, with stuccoed walls, little ornament, and few historicist features, all characteristic of residences built between the world wars.

Source: City of Kelowna Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of 870 Bernard Avenue include its:
- residential form, scale and massing, as expressed by its one-storey height and L-shaped plan
- medium-pitched, cross-gabled roof with gable projection towards the street; arched opening to recessed entry and arched window in the front gable
- corbelled brick chimney
- white stucco walls
- one-over-one double-hung wood-sash windows with plain, medium-width wood trim
- shallow bay window to the left of the door, with diagonal, leaded fixed-pane windows above
- massive deciduous tree in front yard, with continuous lawn to street