P.E. Simpson House

The heritage value of the P.E. Simpson House is found in its association with the prominent Simpson family, which had long-standing interests in the construction and lumber industries in the community; as a good example of Arts and Crafts style built in Kelowna around at the time of the outbreak of WW I; and, in its demonstration of how families pooled resources, and how extended families resided in the same place over time.

Stanley M. Simpson (1886-1959) was born in Chatsworth, Ontario. He left school at 15 and worked as a carpenter. After a period in Toronto, and a try at homesteading in central Saskatchewan, Simpson came to British Columbia in 1911. Two years later, in 1913, he and partner Oswell Etter bought George Ritchie's carpentry shop on Water Street in Kelowna. With the slump in business at the start of the First World War, Etter withdrew from the partnership, and by 1916 Simpson was the sole owner of S.M. Simpson Sash and Door. He moved the business to Abbott Street in 1918, and expanded to manufacturing orchard ladders. He entered the fruit box-making business in 1923, and in 1924 incorporated S.M. Simpson Ltd., which also entered the sawmill business. His products therefore supplied the dominant fruit industry.

About 1915 Simpson brought his mother Permelia and sister Norma out from Ontario, and bought this small house on Sutherland Avenue, with financial help from his sister Ruth. Ruth Simpson had trained as a nurse at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York and for many years traveled the world as nurse/companion to various wealthy ladies. Stanley Simpson moved from his rooming house to the historic place, to live with his family. The house has value as a demonstration of the way that families pooled resources, and extended families would live together.

In 1916 Simpson married Bertha Birch, daughter of Thomas Birch, who had come from England to Kelowna in 1911. Stanley and Bertha lived in this house. When their son Horace was born in 1917, Bertha died of childbirth complications. In 1921 Stanley Simpson remarried, to Blanche Mowat. She had arrived in Kelowna in 1919, teaching Domestic Science in the Kelowna High School. The following year, with improving finances, Simpson built a new, much more substantial home on the lakefront (see 2120 Abbott Street) and moved there with his wife and son.

Simpson's mother Permelia stayed on in this house for many years (she lived to the age of 97, and died about 1952); her occupation was listed as 'ranching' until 1927. In 1927 she was joined here by another of her sons, E. Vernon Simpson, who had remained on his homestead in Saskatchewan (adjoining S.M. Simpson's) from 1906 until 1939. He came out from Saskatchewan, and he worked as a grader at S.M. Simpson Ltd. for a number of years. By 1956 he was listed as retired.

The house also has value as an example of the Arts and Crafts (or 'California') bungalow, which was becoming very popular in BC at the time. The medium-sloped roof, deep porch, and prominent wood elements are all characteristic of the Arts and Crafts style.