Robert Munson House

Place Description

The historic place is the two-storey, wood Robert Munson House, built in 1911 in the Foursquare style and located at 966 Lawrence Avenue in Kelowna's North Central neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Robert Munson House lies in its association with a prominent family that has been active in the area since the latter part of the 19th century, and for the role of the building as a good example of the Foursquare style, constructed in the early years of the community. It also has value for demonstrating the changing demographics of the area, through its conversion to rental property

This house was built in 1911 by Joseph Fraser, and was bought by Robert Munson (Jr.) in 1912. Munson (d. 1952) was a sawmill employee and later a farmer. He was son of Robert Munson, Sr., who settled at Benvoulin in 1889 and was prominent in that community. Value may be found in the Munson family's presence in the area for more than 60 years, going back to early pioneer days.

The house also has value for being representative of the Foursquare house-type, two storeys high with a hipped roof. It has been much altered, most notably the stucco cladding and the front porch.

By 1922 this was the home of F. Matthews, who lived here through to the 1930s. Otto and Mabel Degner bought it in 1948. A decade later they fitted up three rooms for rent, consistent with other conversions in the neighbourhood, as it became dominated by rooming houses. The house has value in demonstrating the changing land use of the area as it increased in density.

Character Defining Elements

- Location on Lawrence Avenue in Kelowna's North Central neighbourhood
- Residential form, scale and massing, expressed by two-storey height and rectangular plan
- Medium-pitch hip roof with front gable dormer attic vent
- 2 brick chimneys, 1 corbelled
- Second-floor symmetrical fenestration facing street with 1-over-1, double-hung, wood sash windows and plain, medium-width, wood trim
- Ground-floor, asymmetrical fenestration with 1-over-1, wood window
- Small, 15-pane, fixed, decorative window with stained glass and wood frame; plain, medium-width, wood trim
- Some mature planting in side yards and lawn to street