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Mohr House

2301 32nd Avenue, Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1996/04/15

Mohr House; City of Vernon, 2010
Oblique view of front elevation, 2009
Historic view of Mohr House; Greater Vernon Museum & Archives photo #225, 1893
Oblique view of front elevation, 1893
No Image

Other Name(s)

C.E. Mohr House
Mohr House

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1893/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2010/05/20

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

Located on a prominent corner of Pleasant Valley Road, the Mohr House is Vernon’s only example of a high-style Second Empire residence. It is a one-and-one-half-storey house with a mansard roof and dormer windows.

Heritage Value

The Mohr House is significant as a striking, rare, and intact example of a Second Empire residence. Built in 1893, it features a mansard roof with seven gabled dormer windows. The form of the building is rectangular, with a dominant bay with a mansard roof and two dormers. A recessed bay contains a single dormer window. Other Second Empire design details include the shallow roof overhang, pairs of eave brackets and the round-headed gables on the dormer windows. The house is clad in drop siding and a variety of decorative boards, including panels of vertical beveled siding. There are several bay windows with flat roofs.

The Second Empire style became the official style for federal buildings in Canada in the 1870s and 1880s. Important examples that were contemporary to the Mohr house include the Langevin Block facing Parliament Hill (the Prime Minister’s Offices, 1884-1889) and the Quebec Parliament Buildings (1886). The best-known British Columbia example is the Custom House in Victoria (1873-75). As a residential style, Second Empire had peaked in the United States by 1885. In Canada, the style was popular in parts of the Maritimes, but there are few residential examples in western Canada.

The Mohr House is also notable for its association with its original owner, C.E. Mohr, who had migrated from Ontario around 1891. Mohr was a woodturner at Smith and Clerin’s sawmill at the time of the building’s construction. It is believed Mohr built the house himself. By 1898, the Vernon Directory identified him as a carpenter. The house has had many subsequent owners. Recently the house, rehabilitated into a dentist office, now has its main entry facing Pleasant Valley Road.

Source: City of Vernon Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Mohr House include its:
- one-and-one-half-storey rectangular scale and massing
- prominent location at a curve of Pleasant Valley Road
- mansard roof
- gabled dormer windows
- spindlework decoration
- shallow overhanging roof with paired Italianate eave brackets
- fenestration, including double-hung windows and bay windows
- surface materials, including drop siding and panels of vertical beveled siding

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.967

Recognition Type

Heritage Designation

Recognition Date

1996/04/15

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Function - Category and Type

Current

Commerce / Commercial Services
Office or Office Building

Historic

Residence
Single Dwelling

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

C.E. Mohr

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

City of Vernon Planning Department

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

EbQt-31

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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