Description of Historic Place

The Chinese Cook House is a one-and-a-half storey, hand-hewn log home with a steeply pitched roof. It is situated with its gable end facing the driveway into R.J. Haney Heritage Village & Museum in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Chinese Cook House is valued for its aesthetic, historic, and social significance.

The aesthetic significance of the Chinese Cook House lies in its architecture. The one-and-a-half storey dwelling was constructed from locally available materials. Its simple rectangular massing consists of hand-hewn logs with dovetail joints and a wooden shingle roof. Its method of construction indicates a level of craftsmanship that is a testament to historic architectural techniques. Also of note was the short door entry into the cabin. This doorway was enlarged in 1986 to address safety concerns for the now public building.

The historic significance of the Chinese Cook House lies in its association with its first owner, Thomas Henry Jones, who established himself as a farmer in the area by 1895. The cabin, historically called "China Shack," was constructed sometime between Jones' arrival at Trapper's Landing in 1895 and the completion of his letters patent in 1898. Jones completed his obligation to clear several acres of land, build a home, and plant a garden and apple orchard. He was granted his letters patent to 157 acres (Part NW ¼ S16 T 22 R 11 West of the 6th Meridian) in 1898. It is believed that the Chinese Cook House was his home. Jones sold his property to the Shuswap Lake Land and Development Company in 1909, which then became part of the Kinghorn Estate. James Reid Kinghorn was the next known owner of the cabin. Kinghorn mistakenly thought the CPR would be re-routed along the shore of Shuswap Lake. He formed a company and set to laying out the township of Sorrento.

The Chinese Cook House holds social value as the property became a community gathering and work place. The Kinghorn Estate needed many staff and employees were accommodated there. The log home became the residence for the Chinese workers who cooked, landscaped, and did the laundry. In the 1930s the Chinese Cook House was retrofitted with bunks for migrant farm workers hired to pick apples. After Kinghorn's death in 1944, the property changed hands several times. In 1963 the Anglican Church purchased the estate and set to running Sorrento Centre. The China Shack became the Sorrento Centre's wash house with two showers and toilet facilities to accommodate campers and cabana visitors. In 1984 the septic field and wash house needed to be replaced and the building was offered to the Salmon Arm Museum & Heritage Association. Eventually the log house found its way to R.J. Haney Heritage Village and was repurposed once again - becoming a storage room for theatre props, sound equipment, and museum artefacts. The front door, complete with an overhang for inclement weather, opens onto the stage and is incorporated into the organization's Dinner Theatre Amphitheatre.

Character-Defining Elements

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

- Hand-hewn square log construction with half dovetail joints
- Rectangular massing
- Simple gable roof clad in cedar