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Fred Galbraith House

3203 26th Street, Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2000/02/21

Fred Galbraith House; City of Vernon, 2010
Oblique view looking southeast, 2009
Fred Galbraith House; City of Vernon, 2010
Front elevation, 2009
No Image

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1937/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2010/05/25

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Fred Galbraith House is a one-storey flat-roofed stucco bungalow located on 26th Street in Vernon. The house is in the Spanish Eclectic style.

Heritage Value

The Fred Galbraith House is valued as a distinctive example of the Spanish Eclectic Style. The style appeared in California and Florida in the 1920s and by the 1930s began to occur in British Columbia. While not as widespread as the Moderne houses of the same era, the style is scattered throughout the Okanagan. On Vernon’s East Hill, the Galbraith brothers, Fred and Harold, built Spanish Eclectic-style houses side by side in 1937 and in 1938. Charles Smith built both of the houses. The Galbraith brothers were typical of the second-generation Vernon families who built smaller houses on the East Hill in the 1920s and 1930s. These house stand in contrast to the more substantial houses and estate lots of the previous generation.

Fred and Harold were partners in J. S. Galbraith & Sons farm machinery, with their father. Horace Galbraith, the third brother, lived in the house on the corner of 32nd Avenue and 26th Street, next to Harold’s house. Horace was a well-known war veteran and lawyer in Vernon. The Galbraiths’ father, J. S. Galbraith, lived in a Queen Anne-style house on 39th Avenue. J. S. Galbraith had been Mayor of Vernon (1924-25) and was very active in the community. Harold’s son, George Galbraith, is well known for bringing public cable to Vernon (he sold Vercom Cable to Shaw Cable in 1991) and for his community work, especially with the Vernon Hospital.

The house is designed to emphasize its horizontality, with flat wall surfaces of stucco and a flat roof. The steep front gable extends toward the ground where it is pierced by an oval gateway. The gable frames the three-arched accent window. The oval motif is repeated three times in the gateway, the window and the entry doorway.

Source: City of Vernon Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Fred Galbraith House include its:
- low-profile one-storey flat-roofed massing
- location on 26th Street, next door to the Harold Galbraith House
- stucco cladding and stuccoed chimney
- arch motif in the entry door, exterior gateway and in three-arched windows
- decorative clay pipe vents
- steep front gable

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.954

Recognition Type

Community Heritage Register

Recognition Date

2000/02/21

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
Architecture and Design
Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Residence
Single Dwelling

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

Charles Smith

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

City of Vernon Planning Department

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

EbQt-94

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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