Description du lieu patrimonial

'Tom' Norwood House is a single storey wood frame house located on the southeast corner St. Laurent Avenue and Callanan Street in North Quesnel, BC. The historic place includes the building and the parcel of land it occupies.

Valeur patrimoniale

'Tom' Norwood House has aesthetic, historic and social value for its contribution to the character of its neighbourhood and its association with influential members of the community of Quesnel.

The historic place has aesthetic value for reflecting the character of the surrounding neighbourhood. Built in 1930, the 'Tom' Norwood House is located in North Quesnel which is an older residential neighbourhood in the city. While not in its original form, the building contributes positively to the streetscape that has other houses of similar scale, style, and proportion.

The 'Tom' Norwood House has historic and social value as a physical reminder of the people who shaped the development of Quesnel. The house was built by well-known local contractors, Stanley Oscar Norwood and Cyril Augustus Norwood. The house is named for Stanley Norwood. The brothers came to Quesnel from England and worked with Harry Joyce, another local contractor. Stanley was known as 'Tom'. His nickname was given to him by Harry Joyce who could not remember his given name. The brothers specialized in cabinetry work and the construction of wood frame buildings. They built Quesnel's first water tower and finished the interior of Telesphore Marion House on Front Street. Charlie Allison, the druggist, often hired the brothers to do carpentry work in his store located in the Hudson's Bay Company Building on Carson Avenue.

The historic place is also valued for its association with its occupants, who contributed to the community of Quesnel. The house was purchased from Tom and Cyril 'Jack' Norwood in 1936 by Walter Henning. Walter was a Forest Ranger in the area. He lived here for thirteen years. In 1949, Walter sold the house to the Wilson family. The Wilson family is recognized for their contribution to the development of the community with a street named in their honour.

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of 'Tom' Norwood House include its:

- substantially intact structure;
- excellent representation of houses built in Quesnel in the 1930s;
- single storey wood frame;
- materials that give the building a warm texture;
- sympathetic additions made to the house in 1936, 1949, and 1970;
- a gable roof with central brick chimney;
- large picture windows with shutters;
- a projecting entrance with pediment and an asymmetrical facade with off-center doorway.