Description of Historic Place

The Collier House is a one-and-one-half storey cross-gabled house located mid-block on the south side of 2 Avenue NE (formerly Harris Street) in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Collier House is important for its contribution to the Harris Street (now 2 Avenue NE) group of houses, and for its association with the Collier family, one of the more prominent families in Salmon Arm's history.

Constructed in 1927, the house is a good example of the low Craftsman bungalow form typically built in British Columbia. It possesses important site qualities such as views and light afforded by siting on the hillside that makes Harris Street unusual and prominent in the city. Its original proportioning of exterior surfaces and window openings help recall the original appearance of the house, which was sided in fine shingles. The house plays a key role in contributing to a streetscape of houses of similar age and stature in this block of Harris Street, and to the reputation of Harris Street as a valued piece of Salmon Arm's heritage.

The Collier House is socially significant as a good example of the pride taken by today's owners in the personal history of the house, in this case in the identification of the house with the early prominent family, the Colliers.

Sited on Harris Street (also known as "Snob Hill" and "Mortgage Hill"), the house is culturally significant as exemplifying the taste of the well-to-do in the early city. It is important for its generous garden and its Craftsman bungalow form, which are typical of homes for the well-to-do middle class in towns across the province. Its location is important as the place of choice for the town's elite: the Colliers owned the major grocery store in town; the second owner was hospital matron B. M. Clarke.

The house is important for its association with the Collier family, prominent in the early commercial history of the town, and particularly Laurence (Andy) Collier, commander of the Canadian Army in the Korean War, later in the Coast Guard, and still later the president of BC Ferry Corporation. It is also important for having a known builder, William Reader, who later built another house for the Colliers, and also for the oral history regarding the designer: that the house was reputedly planned by Kathleen Collier.

Source: City of Salmon Arm, Development Services Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Collier House include its:

Site:
- location, with views of the town and lake
- setting of broad lawns surrounding the house on the sides with views
- extensive mature plantings at the rear of the property

Building, displaying Craftsman characteristics such as:
- original proportioning of exterior surfaces and window openings
- original wood knee braces supporting gable end eaves
- tripartite delineation of gabled elevations: base, main floor wall area, upper floor wall area
- cross-gabled roof form, and original bargeboard and tongue-and-groove soffit material
- front porch form and original post details