Description of Historic Place

The Smithers House is a creatively designed, custom-built home neighbouring the Murray House and Jail at the Vanderhoof Museum Grounds at 478 1st Street West in Vanderhoof, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

This site has historical and aesthetic value for its connection to well known resident Thomas Smithers and for its unique design elements. It is socially valued for its later use as a house for men with intellectual disabilities.

The house was built by Thomas "Tommy" Smithers who came to Vanderhoof in 1914 from Seaforth, Ontario, to work as a carpenter. After trying to homestead twice, once in Hulatt and once at Braeside, he discovered his passion for building houses. In 1918, Tommy built a carpenter shop on Stewart Street and became Vanderhoof's main contractor. Tommy married Molly Silver in 1923 in the United Church which Tommy had recently completed, and were the first couple to be married there.

Construction on the house was completed in 1929. It was, by far, the most splendid house in Vanderhoof and aptly demonstrates Tommy's creativity and resourcefulness. The kitchen counters were custom made for Molly, who was very short, and, despite electricity being unavailable in Vanderhoof in the 1920s, Tommy wired the house for electric lights. The original wires are still visible under the shelves of the living room. Many elements were constructed from reused materials such as the black oak borders in the living room and the stunning ceiling in the dinning room.

After Tommy and Molly moved in the mid-1960s, the house was used as a group home for men with intellectual disabilities. The new owners made some interior alterations to the house to update it (these alterations were removed during the restoration project, which was completed in September 2009). By the year 2000, it was no longer in use and it was donated it to the museum, at which time it was moved to its current location and placed on a cement crawl space foundation.

Character-Defining Elements

The Character-Defining Elements of this historic place include its:

- Oak flooring
- Hardwood parquet bordered by black oak
- Dinning room ceiling made from recycled crates
- Built in dinning room china cabinets