Description of Historic Place

The historic place is the single-storey, wood-frame McGregor House, built in 1920 in Craftsman Bungalow style, and located at 1788 Ethel Street in Kelowna's South Central neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

The value of the McGregor House is derived from its association with Angus McGregor, who participated in the development of early Kelowna, and for its architecture, as a well-preserved example of a Craftsman Bungalow.

The house was built in 1920 by Angus McGregor, who designed and built it himself - not surprisingly, as he was a building contractor by trade. Angus and Mary G. McGregor were in Kelowna by 1913, residing at the corner of DeHart Avenue and Ethel Street, so this might have been a replacement of their original home. They were still living here in 1927, but by 1932 the property was held by J.E. Reekie in trust. Angus McGregor was active as a contractor in the pre-World War I era, which were the early days of the rapidly developing community.

The house is also valued as a well-preserved example of a Craftsman Bungalow, typical of those built in the early inter-war years. The gabled roof, entrance porch, and wood details are among the features that are characteristic of this popular style.

Source: City of Kelowna Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the McGregor House include its:
- location on Ethel Street in Kelowna's South Central neighborhood
- residential form, scale and massing, as expressed by its single-storey height and rectangular plan
- features of the Arts and Crafts (Craftsman) style, including the projecting porch, the multiple, low-pitched gabled roofs, and the wood brackets that support the deep eaves
- wood-sash windows with painted wood trim
- local red-brick walls, with two matching red-brick, corbelled chimneys
- wood steps leading to the front porch
- triple, tapered wood posts at the corners of the porch, supporting large, wood beams
- matching single tapered wood posts flanking the entrance
- semi-circular louvered wood vent to attic
- painted wood trim, including fascias contrasting against brick walls
- corner lot with massive, dominant, deciduous tree and perimeter privet hedge on both streets
- decorative, painted-wood, trellised archway entrance gate at street