Description of Historic Place

The Stoodley Residence is a one-storey Arts and Crafts bungalow set amidst a lush English-style garden on the north side of Nicola Street West in the West End neighbourhood of Kamloops.

Heritage Value

Built in 1926, the Stoodley Residence is significant for its Arts and Crafts architecture. Typical of houses built in the 1920s, the house reflects the modern ideals of economy, domestic comfort and good design, as well as an ongoing pride in past traditions. Although modest in stature and detailing, the Stoodley Residence features Arts and Crafts elements such as tapered verandah columns, multi-paned windows, exposed rafter tails and triangular eave brackets.

With its lush, abundant English-style garden and prominent street frontage, the Stoodley Residence contributes significantly to the heritage character of the West End neighbourhood. The location of the house on a site that was originally a gully reflects the development and expansion of the West End neighbourhood that began in the early 1900s. Evidence of the gully, which originally extended across the street and down towards the river, can be seen in the river silt, sand and cobbles that remain among the plantings surrounding the house.

The Stoodley Residence is also valued for its association with the first owners, Joseph Octavius Stoodley (1886-1968) and his wife, Violet Beatrice (1889-1973) who were both originally from England. Joseph Stoodley worked as a city clerk but also played a prominent role in the local educational system. In 1920, he was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the Kamloops School Board. Stoodley also served as Truant Officer (elected 1925), City Collector at City Hall (elected 1934), and School Trustee (elected 1939).

Source: City of Kamloops Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Stoodley Residence include its:
- picturesque setting amongst mature coniferous and deciduous trees on Nicola Street West
- location on the former site of a gully within the historic West End neighbourhood
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its one-storey height with front-gabled roof and shed-roofed front verandah, originally spanning the width of the house, now with partial enclosure
- Arts and Crafts details such as twin-coursed cedar shingle siding, wooden lapped siding in the gable ends, bargeboards, triangular eave brackets, exposed rafter tails, tapered verandah columns and built-in flower boxes
- external red-brick chimney
- windows, such as its multi-paned double-hung windows in double and triple assembly, small feature windows flanking the chimney, and horizontal window in front gable
- associated landscape features, such as its lush English-style garden consisting of an abundance of mature, naturalistic plantings