Description of Historic Place

The Elletson House is a two storey side gabled Craftsman style house with above ground basement, front facing dormer and full width front porch situated on the south side of Point Grey Road in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Elletson House is valued for its association with the prolific contracting and real estate firm Bentley and Wear, its Craftsman style, the boom in real estate development in the area prompted by the laying of sewer and waterlines along with completion of the Fourth Avenue streetcar line, and for its adaptation to accommodate the changing housing needs of the evolving city.

Built in 1912, the Elletson House is a product of the prolific construction and real estate firm Bentley and Wear, builders of spec houses in the Craftsman style throughout the west side of the city including iconic streetscapes found on MacDonald, Trafalgar and Stephens Streets. Bentley and Wear leveraged the economy of scale provided by building the majority of their houses from one plan, allowing the firm to boast about their features and their affordable price. Heritage value is found with the Elletson House as an intact representative example of their standard house plan showing their use of a robust Craftsman style.

Additionally, the Elletson House is valued for its connection to the flurry of real estate activity in the area prompted by the completion of both the Fourth Avenue streetcar line in 1909, providing reliable and easy access to downtown, and the laying of sewer and waterlines the following year which enabled the rapid development and growth throughout the area. The first resident William Elletson, advertising manager, World Printing and Publishing Co who lived in the house for three years would find an easy commute to downtown and the World's offices.

Social and cultural value is found with its transition from a single family home to rented rooms, providing much needed accommodation during the tight housing conditions brought by the onset of World War Two, and later its shift to a duplex in the 1970s reflecting the continued shift and demand for different housing types.

Character-Defining Elements

The elements that define the heritage character of the Elletson House are its:

- continuous residential use since its construction
- residential form, scale and massing as expressed in its side gabled form, centrally placed dormer, and two storey height with main floor almost one storey above grade
- its dormer which includes a sleeping porch with square spindled balustrade, knee braces under the eaves, with beach stones set in stucco between the half timbering in the peak
- dormer interrupts the roof line of the front porch and is 'supported' on large brackets
- full width porch with pointed arches supported on each corner with three square posts atop shingled porch piers, square spindled balustrade
- square bay with shed roof, exposed rafter ends and piano window on the west wall
- tongue and groove soffits with open knee braces under the eaves
- original window openings and assemblies including:
- transom and casement assembly with stained glass transom on the front porch, a pair of transom and casement assemblies at the rear and a single on the south end of the west wall
- sash assemblies with stained glass or clear quarter upper light
- stained glass piano windows on the east and west walls
- window trim is flared at the base
- original front door with leaded glass window and brass strap hinge ornaments set with flanking side panels with small leaded windows
- shingle cladding with a flare over each window
- red brick chimney on the west side