792 Lawrence Ave

The historic place has value as a good example of a Foursquare house. It is also valued for having accommodated a series of families who contributed to the early commercial sector of the community. It further has value for demonstrating the changes in population density in the area, as it was converted from a single-family home to rooming-house accommodation.

This house was built around 1908 by John and Margaret Collins. They and their three children came to Kelowna in 1905 from their farm in Ireland, with a very short stop in Didsbury, Alberta. John Collins worked in the local orchards and also as a gardener. In 1910 the Collins family moved to Vancouver.

The house has heritage value as a fine example of a largely unaltered Forsquare house. It is typical of the manner, 2.5 storeys high, somewhat square in plan, with a hipped roof penetrated by dormer windows and a broad porch. The house is in a mature landscape setting.

In 1933 the house was owned by K. MacLaren. He was probably the Kenneth MacLaren who was listed as 'farmer' in 1913, in 1922 as 'of Weld Maclaren & Co Ltd', in 1924 as 'of Mabee-McLaren'(an auto dealership), and in 1936 as 'retired' (although he had died in 1935). He was secretary-treasurer of the Kelowna Golf Club when it was formed.

By 1940 R.P and J.W. Hughes owned the house. Shoemaker Rudolph H. Blanke and his wife Helen Blanke rented it in 1948. In 1956 it was owned and occupied by Carl W. and Sylvia Schmock. He was an accountant at the Kelowna Courier newspaper.

In 1964 the building was licensed for five rental rooms. Like so many houses in this North Central neighbourhood, it was converted from single-family to multiple-family use. This property has value for being representative of the densification of this inner-city neighbourhood in the later twentieth century.