Description of Historic Place

The historic place is the two-and-one-half-storey, Foursquare-style, wood-frame C. Martin House, built in 1907 during the first phase of civic development, and located at 1441 Richter Street in Kelowna's North End neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the C. Martin House is derived from its fine architecture and from its association with builder M.J. Curts and a succession of owners. It also has value for demonstrating demographic change in the neighbourhood.

The C. Martin House is a very good example of a residence built in the Foursquare style, characterized by its square plan and hipped roof. The house represents the transition to this manner from the late Queen Anne-style elements, and has some features of the more decorative earlier style, including the spindled balustrade and the curved bay along one side. The house was built in the North End neighbourhood during Kelowna's initial phase of civic development, and is one of the larger houses in that area.

The house was built by prominent contractor M.J. Curts, for Cornelius Martin, who came here from Regina. Martin Avenue is named after him. Martin lived here until at least 1909, when he spent $2000 on improvements to the five-acre property. Martin does not appear in local directories from 1910 on, and he died in 1916 at Point Grey, Vancouver, aged 72.

The house went through a string of owners after the Second World War. In 1947, it was owned by J.B. Clark, and then by Mrs. Ellen E. Clayton (widow of P.R. Clayton). By 1950 the owners were Mr. and Mrs. R.J. Allison; then in 1955-56 by Ron L. and Betty E. Ritchey, he being a carpenter. Nicholas Turk subsequently owned it, and by 1961 H. Isert.

By 1973, the historic place had become a rooming house, known as Richter Apartments, with nine suites. This was typical of the many houses in the neighbourhood that were converted from a large single-family use to a rooming house as the population increased and the North End developed with smaller residential units. The property demonstrates the growth of Kelowna in this area.

Source: City of Kelowna Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the C. Clement House include its:
- location on Richter Street in Kelowna's North End neighbourhood
- residential form, scale and massing, as expressed by its two-and-one-half-storey height and rectangular plan
- medium-pitched bell-cast hipped roof
- four symmetrical, projecting, gabled dormers with bell-cast roofs
- low-pitched hipped roof wrapping around ground floor and entrance porch
- corbelled brick chimney
- wood siding
- features that demonstrate the conversion to suites, including the second-floor balcony facing the street, with wood, spindled balustrade and handrail, and the connecting stair to ground floor porch
- ground-floor porch with round, wood columns supporting wood beams and with wood spindled balustrade and handrail
- wood steps to the porch, with wood spindled balustrade, handrails, and newel posts
- fenestration on the second floor and dormer, with one-over-one, double-hung, wood-sash windows with plain wood trim
- ground-floor fenestration
- entrance door, with sidelights and transom
- mature plantings throughout the lot, with tall privet hedge at street