Buck House
Place Description
The Buck House is a large two and one-half storey wood-frame residence, situated on the south side of Park Avenue at the corner of Pandosy Street in Kelowna's historic Abbott Street neighbourhood. The building is partially hidden from the street by overgrown plantings.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Buck House is as a representative of the size and style of the houses that once stood along this desirable section of Pandosy Street. It was built during the first major period of Kelowna's residential expansion, during the boom period that predated the First World War.
Built circa 1912 for C.G. Buck, it is additionally significant as a local example of the late persistence of the Queen Anne Revival style. The two-storey bay window and the open front verandah are hallmarks of the style. The use of machine-pressed concrete blocks for the foundation, a product that had just become fashionable, demonstrates the typical construction technology of the era. This house also illustrates the often additive and informal nature of additions; the rear portion of the house may originally have been a separate structure or earlier house on the site.
Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Buck House include its:
- location on a large corner lot at the intersection of Park Avenue and Pandosy Street;
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed by its two and one-half storey (with basement) height, double-height bay with gabled roof, irregular asymmetrical plan and one and one-half storey extension at rear;
- twin-gabled roof on the east facade with gabled and shed dormers;
- machine-pressed concrete block foundation and wood-frame construction with stucco cladding and half-timbering in the gables;
- exterior elements such as closed eaves with whale-bone returns on the rear addition, narrow drop siding with cornerboards, verandah with lathe-turned posts and two corbelled brick chimneys; and
- fenestration, with double-hung 1-over-1 wooden-sash windows.
