Description of Historic Place

The historic place is the two-storey Charles Clement House, built in 1912 in the Foursquare style as part of a large agricultural and residential complex located at 1049 Borden Avenue, in Kelowna's South Central neighbourhood. The Clement Barn, located at 1019 Borden Avenue, is a separate historic place that forms part of the complex, and is described separately.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Charles Clement House is primarily derived from its association with Charles Clement, who was active in the fruit-packing and construction businesses, two key industries that shaped early Kelowna. The house is also valued for its Foursquare design, and for being a prominent dwelling built during Kelowna's first phase of civic development.

Charles G. Clement (1867-1962) arrived in Kelowna in 1900, following his parents, who came in 1898. Clement is of historic interest for his experience in Kelowna's fruit and construction industry, particularly the latter. He worked in 1902-03 as foreman for the Stirling and Pitcairn packinghouse, and supervised the packing and shipping of the first export apples to leave Kelowna. By 1905 Clement had his own business, a cement and concrete block factory. Two years later he built the First Baptist Church on Ellis Street using these blocks. Between 1911 and 1914 he was a partner in Clement Riggs Ltd., which operated a brickyard that turned out about 100,000 bricks every two weeks, therefore contributing substantially to the local construction boom. The company used the bricks in building the Casorso and Rowcliffe Blocks, among others. As a result of the 1913 depression, the brickyard closed and Clement lost his business.

The house also has value for being a very good example of the Foursquare manner, characterized by a hipped roof over a squarish plan, and is a relatively rare example faced in brick.

W.T. Ortt owned the house in the 1930s, as well as the house at 911 Borden Avenue. In 1953 Waldemar Mueller, who was still the owner in 1983, bought the house from Winfield McInroy. He is listed as a labourer at Kelowna Sawmill, and so this later, long-time resident associates the house with a third important local industry, sawmilling.

Source: City of Kelowna Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Charles Clement House include its:
- location on Borden Avenue, forming part of a larger agricultural and residential complex
- residential form, scale and massing, as expressed by its two-storey height and nearly square plan
- medium-pitched hipped roof penetrated by a dormer window on the front elevation
- two brick chimneys
- entrance porch (presumably formerly open), covered by a medium-pitched roof
- brick-veneer walls, made of locally manufactured brick
- symmetrical second-floor fenestration, with one-over-one wood-sash windows with narrow wood trim
- several mature trees throughout the property, particularly by the street