Description of Historic Place

The Thrall Residence is a one-storey, Craftsman-style building located in Qualicum Beach’s town centre. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.

Heritage Value

Built around 1915, the Thrall Residence is a very good example of the Craftsman style. Craftsman bungalows, often built to plans ordered from pattern books, offered affordable, well-designed and well-built housing options to the middle class. The solid appearance, simple rectangular form, front porch and shingle cladding of the Thrall Residence are typical elements of the style.

The Thrall Residence is an excellent example of the adaptive reuse of a historic building. Acquired by the Town of Qualicum Beach in 1990, the building is currently leased to the Chamber of Commerce. Although some changes have been made to the building’s entrance to accommodate its transition from residential to commercial use, the Thrall Residence is substantially intact and stands as a model for sympathetic and thoughtful rehabilitation.

The Thrall Residence is located within a grouping of heritage buildings in the town centre and contributes significantly to the cohesiveness of the streetscape.

Source: Town of Qualicum Beach, Corporate Administration

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Thrall Residence include:
- all of the original elements of the Craftsman style, as expressed in the horizontal massing, simple rectangular form, twin-coursed shingle cladding, front porch, triangular eave brackets, multi-paned windows on the ground level, casement window in the gable end, exposed rafters and low-pitched front-gabled roof
- the building’s location on a main street in the town centre