Sarah H Frank House

The Sarah H Frank house is of historical significance for its association with Robert Morrison, Sarah H Frank, Pasquale "Cap" Capozzi and Maria "Mary" Mussatto. Built in the early 1900's (circa 1901), the Sarah H Frank house is valued for its distinctive architecture. Typical of many houses of the Edwardian era, it reflected the modern ideas of economy and good design but also an ongoing interest in past traditions.

When Kelowna became a city, in May of 1905, Robert Morrison (born in 1844) was hired as the first city clerk, a position he held until June of 1908. Robert was also a hardware merchant in partnership with J.N. Thompson. Robert Morrison died at Kelowna in 1909; Mary Elizabeth Morrison, Robert's wife, died in 1923. Both were buried in the Morrison/Frank family plot in the Kelowna Pioneer Cemetery. A large family was born to them: Thomas Nicol Morrison, Robert Frank Morrison, John Alexander Morrison, Charles H. Morrison, Sarah Elizabeth, Kathleen Jane and Louisa. Various members of the Morrison family were in the hardware business in Kelowna for many years. According to voting records from 1907 through 1918, Miss Sarah H Frank, sister of Mary Elizabeth, took residence at 822 Lawrence Avenue.

In 1906 at the age of 18, Pasquale “Cap” Capozzi arrived in Canada from Italy and worked as a railway labourer and store manager before opening his own store in the town of Phoenix in 1917. Two years later he moved to Kelowna, where he opened a grocery store in the old Lequime building at the foot of Bernard Avenue. The City Grocery (later called Capozzi's Cash Grocery) subsequently moved to 279 Bernard Avenue and operated there until 1962. Cap Capozzi courted and in 1921 married Maria “Mary” Mussatto who was living at 822 Lawrence Avenue at the time of their courtship.

Mary Mussatto’s sister, Gina, married Carlo Ghezzi who became a prominent local businessman and partner of Cap Capozzi. During the depression, Cap saw an opportunity to use apple surpluses to make wine. In 1932, with the help of W.A.C. Bennett and Carlo Ghezzi, Cap raised enough money to launch Calona Wines LTD. During the 1960s, under the management of Capozzi and his sons, Calona became the largest winery in BC. In 1971, Capozzi’s family sold Calona Wines to Standard Brands. Net proceeds of $8 million were used to further develop the Capri hotel and shopping centre in Kelowna and a variety of other investments, including “hundreds of acres” of Okanagan real estate.