Description of Historic Place

The McCulloch House is a stucco-clad, one and one-half storey wood-frame Arts and Crafts cottage, located in Kelowna's historic Abbott Street neighbourhood. The house is situated mid-block and is compatible in scale, style and massing with the other houses in the area.

Heritage Value

Built in 1937, the value of the McCulloch House lies in its association with prominent local citizens Avard William McCulloch (1873-1962) and his wife, Ellen Louisa McCulloch, who lived in the house for many years. Avard McCulloch had a long career in lake navigation, an important means of transportation in the early development of Kelowna. McCulloch sailed Okanagan Lake between 1908 and 1946 and was captain of the S.S.Aberdeen and the tug Orillia for the Kelowna Sawmill.

The McCulloch House is additionally valued as a late example of the influence of Arts and Crafts movement, as expressed in the exposed rafters ends and low, asymmetrical massing.

Source: City of Kelowna, Planning Department, File No. 6800-02

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the McCulloch House include its:
- setting; with a compatible residential setback in an area of houses of similar style, age and scale;
- residential form, scale and massing, as expressed by its asymmetrical plan and one-and-one-half-storey height;
- medium pitch side gabled roof with multiple and overlapping gables on the front facade;
- concrete foundation and wood-frame construction;
- Arts and Crafts details, such as its exposed rafter tails and asymmetrical massing;
- additional exterior elements, such as the plain bargeboards, small projecting enclosed porch with gabled roof, glazed front door with original hardware, side entrance with bracketed hood, and two brick chimneys;
- asymmetrical fenestration with multiple assembly double-hung 1-over-1 wooden-sash windows, fixed single pane windows and bay window with hipped roof on the facade.