McDonald Farm House

The heritage value of the McDonald farmhouse is found in part in its being a rare, surviving farmhouse from the period before World War I in the Rutland neighbourhood. The attractive and well-maintained Arts and Crafts house in a mature landscaped setting provides a good reminder of the community's rural character in the early days of development.

The house is also valued from its association with the McDonald family, which was active in the early days of the Rutland community. Dan E. McDonald arrived from Ontario, after a period in Calgary, in early 1908. He cleared a plot of land at the corner of the Black Mountain and Rutland Roads and built a store and residence, the first store in the Rutland village. When Rutland post office was established in 1908 it was located in McDonald's store, and he served as postmaster from 1908 to 1911. In 1911 he sold the store to Clever and Whiteway (it later became Hardie's Store), and he built this house in 1913 or 1914. He farmed and kept bees on a commercial basis near the school, and trapped on his preemption in the hills. In 1913 Daniel McDonald was identified as a machinist for the Okanagan Lumber Company. Mrs. D.E. McDonald was a charter member of the Rutland Women's Institute when it was formed in 1915.