118 Nicola Street – William O. Ellis House – W.O. Ellis was a local pharmacist and active community member. He built his home on tree lined Nicola Street in 1929. It has many features typical of the Arts and Crafts style, but it is also looking forward to architectural trends popularized in the 1930s. The cream-colored stucco, green window boxes, and red steps are the original colors.223 Nicola Street – The style of this home is typical of the 1910 period in Kamloops and is best described as anti-Victorian in sentiment. It was built in 1909. The overall shape is rectangular and right-angled. Adornment is kept to a minimum. Homes like this can be found scattered throughout Kamloops and were generally owned by small businessmen or railway officials.226 Nicola Street – S. B. Brooke House – This English style cottage was built in 1940 by C.N.R. Conductor Bernard Brooke (aka ‘Babbling Brooke’) and his wife Ruby, after their home at 1426 Lorne Street burned to the ground. Mrs. Brooke and her two children escaped into the -20°F weather at midnight with only their overcoats and nightclothes. The fire brigade’s efforts were hampered by the extreme cold and a broken fire hydrant. Mr. Brooke returned home to find that his wife had narrowly escaped the flames, as the front door had jammed, making her exit difficult. In 1942, C.N.R. Engineer, Archibald Legg and his new bride Janet Darlington purchased this home. The couple were former neighbors in the 800 block Battle Street when both became widowed. Sadly, Archibald Legg was killed in 1948, in a train wreck near Lytton, and Janet remained in the house until 1970. The architecture of this stucco house is unique in the Kamloops area. The steep pitched, double peaks at the front of the house are repeated once at the rear. These details were labor intensive, but add greatly to the appeal of the home inside and out. This four-bedroom cottage has only one bathroom; however, an upstairs bedroom features the original built-in vanity sink. Chamber pots were probably a necessity as one of the resident families had seven children.255 Nicola Street –Sacred Heart Cathedral – Sacred Heart Cathedral was built in 1921 to replace a wood frame church which had burned. Interesting architectural features include stained and leaded glass windows, red brick with white stone accents, columns, balustrade, a tower, and dome.822 Nicola Street – Charles and Clara Hirst built the first house on this block in 1912 in the popular classic box style. The house was subsequently bought by Robert McCall in 1921 who was elected the Police Commissioner in 1926. The house has been extensively restored to its original condition with clapboard siding, v board soffits, wood rafter fascia, and leaded glass panel windows.868 Nicola Street – Royal Dayton Bell House – This late Craftsman style house was built just before the outbreak of World War II by R.D. Bell. Bell was a contractor and carpenter, and given the quality of this house, he probably built it himself. The outside of the house is sided in double rows of cedar shingles. The verandah is getting smaller, as was typical of this period, but it is still a comfortable size by today’s standards and features a wide top railing and slender columns with decorative moldings. Pretty window boxes complete the cottage-like quality of the house.875 Nicola Street – This Bungalow style house was built in 1944. The exterior has original plaster stucco siding, wood soffits and fascia, multi-pane wood frame windows and a scallop frame to accent the front side.115 Tranquille Road – c. 1909-1910 – The Wilson House is a one-and-one-half-story wood-frame house influenced by the Gothic Revival style and connected with William Stewart Wilson, a local farmer, businessman and politician, and the first Chairman of the Village of North Kamloops. The house has a steeply-pitched side gabled roof and side bay window, a central gabled wall dormer, and a full-width open veranda.
