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Felker Homestead

Highway 97, 118 Mile House, British Columbia, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2013/03/01

Felker Homestead highway view, 2012; Cariboo Regional District, 2012
Felker Homestead, 2012
Felker Homestead barn, 2012; Cariboo Regional District, 2012
Felker Homestead barn, 2012
Felker Homestead bunkhouse, 2012; Cariboo Regional District, 2012
Felker Homestead bunkhouse, 2012

Other Name(s)

118 Mile House
Felker Homestead

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1884/01/01

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2013/04/12

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Felker Homestead is a collection of ranch buildings surrounded by hayfields, situated on the south side of Highway 97 at 118 Mile House on the shores of Lac La Hache in the Cariboo Regional District of British Columbia. This historic place includes a two-storey, fir-clad, wood-framed gable-roofed house with an attached veranda and woodshed; a two-storey fir log barn, and a one-storey fir log bunkhouse. Both log buildings have gabled tin roofs. The buildings have been relocated across the highway from the original homestead site and placed in their original configuration on the new site. This historic place also includes the surrounding hayfield.

Heritage Value

The Felker Homestead is valued as an example of the mixed farming lifestyle which provided farm products for the Cariboo goldfields and sustained early settlers of the Lac La Hache area. It is also valued for its place in the series of roadhouses and ranches along the historic Cariboo Waggon Road. The house, built in 1884 at the 118 milepost of the Cariboo Waggon Road, and the other ranch buildings, are valued as examples of the typical construction methods and architectural designs of the time. The historic place is further valued for its location next to the historic Felker family graveyard and across the highway from the original site. The Felker Homestead is currently valued as a community gathering place and festival site.

Cariboo Regional District, Planning Department, Williams Lake, BC

Character-Defining Elements

Key character-defining elements of the Felker Homestead include:

- Placement of the buildings in their original configuration on a new site
- Location next to historic Felker family graveyard
- Location on Highway 97, which closely follows the old Cariboo Waggon Road
- The surrounding natural hayfields, which are still being harvested
- Original eight stalls and hand hewn log feeding troughs in the barn
- The name "118 Mile House"
- Full length post and beam, hip roofed covered veranda on the house
- Fir-shingled roof on the house
- Hand-axed, saddle-seated log work in the house
- Very wide fir partition walls (1" x 18", 1 x 20") in the house
- Fir tongue and groove ceilings and wall coverings in the house
- Hand forged exterior door hinges.
- Barn and bunkhouse log walls chinked with mud and cement, respectively

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.954

Recognition Type

Community Heritage Register

Recognition Date

2013/03/01

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Developing Economies
Trade and Commerce
Peopling the Land
Settlement

Function - Category and Type

Current

Historic

Food Supply
Farm or Ranch

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

Felker family

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

Cariboo Regional District, Planning Department, Williams Lake, BC

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

EkRj-8

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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