W.R. Trench House

The heritage value of the Trench House lies its association with W.R. Trench, who was prominent in civic and commercial affairs in the community, and also with subsequent owners, who contributed to the commercial sector. It is also valued for its architecture. There is value as well in its growth over the years, as the original cottage was enlarged to accommodate the changing expectations of homeowners.

William Robert and Elizabeth Laura Trench moved to Kelowna from Manitoba in 1908. William Trench opened a pharmacy in partnership with a Mr. Currie. Soon he had his own company, W.R. Trench Ltd., which was located on Bernard Avenue at the corner of Water Street. He operated this until 1935, when he sold it to G.A. Elliott and J.D. Whitham, who retained the Trench name.

William Trench served his community for more than 20 years. He sat on the school board from 1912 to 1919, and was president of the Board of Trade in 1926 and 1927. He was an alderman in 1932 and 1933, and mayor in 1934 and 1935.

The historic place has value as well for its architecture. The Trenches built it in 1911. The original form, a small, squarish, hipped-roof cottage with a front porch, can still be discerned. It is now engulfed in subsequent additions (apparently done partly in 1971), which seem to enhance, rather than detract from, the heritage character.

Around 1925 to 1928, the Trenches built a new home on Pendozi (now Pandosy) Street. In 1936 they moved to Vancouver. The house went through several owners in the next two decades, including Harold S. and Grace L. Dalley, he a checker for the CNR, who owned it in 1948. In 1956 it was bought by Adolph T. (1908-1969) and Florence C. Roth, who resided here until the 1960s.

Adolph Roth came to Kelowna from Camrose, Alberta, in 1929. He first worked in the cannery on Ellis Street, and then in the early 1930s began driving the horse-drawn delivery wagon for Paddy Cameron's Guisachan Dairy (the horse was named 'Bonny'). In 1939 he moved into town and became the distributor for the Kelowna Creamery, then in 1950 for NOCA Dairies, operating under the name Roth's Dairy Products (of which he was manager), which had as many as eighteen employees and fifteen trucks.