A HISTORIC CHILLIWACK HOUSE STILL WITH US – Back in 1891, the year the Chilliwack Progress first started publishing and just ten years after Isaac Kipp laid out Chilliwack’s townsite, residential development on the north side of Victoria Avenue in the ‘downtown’ area commenced and a number of historically-significant Chilliwack houses were constructed. One-hundred-and-twenty-three years later, three of these 19th century houses are still with us; two in their original location on Victoria Avenue (the Bradshaw and Ashwell houses) while the third one (the Rose house) was relocated approximately 60 years ago to its current location on Nowell Street. In its day, the Rose house was the most photographed house on Victoria Avenue due to its more prominent and westerly location. In 1894, three years after it was built, the Rose house would become neighbours with Chilliwack’s new and first Courthouse (situated at the north-west corner of Victoria Avenue and Young Road North). The Rose house was constructed by local builder and speculator John Barker at the north foot of Mill Street where it meets Victoria Avenue. Barker’s house was of distinctive late-Victorian design with “Gothic Revival” style influences. Not long after the house was completed, Barker sold it to William A. Rose and his wife Clara. Rose had been born in the US and he found his way to BC in 1880 and then eventually to Chilliwack where he became a successful businessman. In 1903, at age 46, Rose became the first president of the Chilliwack Board of Trade. Rose operated a thriving drygoods and millinery store on the north side of Wellington Avenue, between Mill Street and Five Corners. In 1918, at age 61, Rose retired and he passed away in 1940 at age 83. One of early Chilliwack’s most iconic historical images was captured during the great Flood of 1894, and it involves the Rose house when it was just three years old. The spring of 1894 had been cold and wet, preventing the proper run-off from the snow in the mountains. Then towards the end of May the weather turned hot and sultry. On June 9, 1894 the Fraser River high-water mark at Mission reached 25.73 feet, the highest level ever to that point, and the water held that high mark for several days. With the inevitable flooding that ensued due to insufficient diking, downtown Chilliwack essentially became an urban lake with canoes and kids on make-shift rafts navigating their away around the City. At the height of the deluge, a photographer stood on Wellington Avenue, facing north on Mill Street, and took the famous (and high-resolution) shot showing the activity on the water on Mill Street with the Rose house rising majestically from the water in the background, tall timbers visible behind it (see Photo #1 below). William A. Rose owned his house on Victoria Avenue for a number of years after his retirement. Over time there were various physical changes made to the structure, including lowering of the central gable, removal of porch columns and brackets, different window treatments, and the application of siding. Consequently the original appearance of the Rose house was noticeably altered. Ownership of the Rose house also changed several times in the coming years, eventually being acquired by the Wilkinson family who for many years had been the next-door neighbours of the Roses on Victoria Avenue. In the 1950s, the Wilkinson family decided to relocate the Rose house from its original and long-time site on Victoria Avenue to the east side of Nowell Street North, just south of Cleveland Avenue, a stone’s throw from Central School. The new address of the Rose house was 124 Nowell Street North. The Wilkinsons later undertook further alterations/improvements with a view to renting the house to tenants. The first tenant to occupy the renovated Rose house was well-known Chilliwack teacher, politician, and historian Doug Steinson and his family and they lived in the Rose house on Nowell Street from 1959 to 1965. One of Doug Steinson’s daughters, Sandy Mullan Steinson, has many good memories of living at 124 Nowell Street North, including being able to leave for school when she heard Central School’s 8:45 warning bell in the morning and also being able to come home for recess. Ultimately the Wilkinson family sold the Rose house at 124 Nowell Street North and it was eventually purchased in early 1998 by award-winning Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella who immediately started to renovate it. Several months earlier, on October 11, 1997 Kinsella had been involved in a car accident in South Surrey which almost resulted in the end of his writing career. He had been struck while out walking and suffered a serious head injury. Kinsella would not publish another novel for 14 years. The writer convalesced in his new Chilliwack home on Nowell Street while it was being renovated and he continued to become more reclusive. Kinsella subsequently sold the Rose house in the 2000’s and he currently resides in Yale, BC. Today the Rose house is located at 9442 Nowell Street and it is owned, lived in, and lovingly maintained by a family originally from Montreal. The original Victoria Avenue location of the Rose house is today part of the Jean McNaughton/Happy Wilkinson multi-purpose urban park. The next time you are in downtown Chilliwack and have a few spare moments, take a walk or drive by the old Rose house on Nowell Street and appreciate a 123-year-old piece of Chilliwack history. The most recent assessment for tax purposes puts the value of the Rose house at $241,700 but this heritage home has a much richer past, far beyond any dollar valuation. IMAGES: #1 - This photo was taken in June 1894 at the height of the Great Flood of 1894 in the Chilliwack Valley. The shot is facing north from Wellington Avenue up Mill Street. At the north foot of Mill Street, on Victoria Avenue, sits the three-year-old Rose House. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Museum and Archives Collection, Photo Number: PP500709) #2 – This image offers another perspective of the Rose house during the Flood of 1894. This shot is taken from the top of Cooke’s Presbyterian Church, facing north-east towards Little Mountain. The Rose house is visible in the middle of the image. (Image Credit: BC Archives) #3 – This photo of the Rose house from circa 1900 shows that a picket fence was added after the Flood and the windows behind the left veranda area have been changed. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Progress Archives) #4 - This image is circa 1912 and is taken from the roof of the recently-completed Hart Building, facing north-west. The Rose House is clearly visible on Victoria Avenue in the middle of the shot. This photo illustrates the close proximity of the Rose house to the original Chilliwack High School to the north and Chilliwack’s first Courthouse to the immediate east. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Museum and Archives Collection, Photo Number: PP502043) #5 – This image is circa 1895 and shows William A. Rose in the front yard of his house on Victoria Avenue with his wife Clara on the veranda. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Museum and Archives Collection, Photo Number: 1982.051.060) #6 – This image, circa 1915, is taken half-way up Mill Street on a snowy day looking north towards the Rose house on Victoria Avenue. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Museum and Archives Collection, Photo Number: 1978.013.029) #7 – This image, also taken on a snowy day circa 1915, shows the view that residents of the Rose house had from their front rooms for over 60 years, looking south on Mill Street toward Wellington Avenue. To the immediate right is the McCaffrey house while in the background the Royal Hotel and the tower of Chilliwack’s first fire hall on Main Street can be seen. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Museum and Archives Collection, Photo Number: PP502073) #8 - This 1951 aerial photo was taken looking north-west towards Victoria Avenue and beyond. The Rose house is still in its familiar location but within several years it would be relocated to Nowell Street North. Also at this time the house is largely obscured by a number of full-growth trees. The proximity of Chilliwack’s new Safeway (opened November 9, 1950) and new fire hall (opened June 22, 1949) to the Rose house is evident in this shot. Chilliwack’s first Courthouse to the east of the Rose house would burn to the ground not long after this photo was taken, on December 30, 1951. (Image Credit: Chilliwack Museum and Archives Collection) #9 – This photo from April 1960, facing north-east, shows the Rose house in its new location at 124 Nowell Street North. At this time, the house is being rented by the Steinson family. Note the 1960s TV antenna on the roof. (Image Credit: Sandy Mullan Steinson Collection) #10 – This April 1960 photo shows the three Steinson children, Sandy, Linda, and Bruce standing in front of the right veranda of the Rose house (now their home at this point) at 124 Nowell Street North. (Image Credit: Sandy Mullan Steinson Collection) #11 – This 2014 photo faces east towards the Rose house and shows how it looks today at 9442 Nowell Street. The various physical changes to the Rose house over the years are evident here, and more so when compared to Images #1 to #6. (Image Credit: Chilliwack History Perspectives Collection) #12- This is another 2014 photo of the Rose house in its current context. (Image Credit: Chilliwack History Perspectives Collection) #13 – This current photo shows how the original location of the Rose house at the north foot of Mill Street on Victoria Avenue looks today (as part of the Jean McNaughton/Happy Wilkinson multi-purpose urban park). This image is taken from approximately the same vantage point as that of Image #1, but 120 years later. (Image Credit: Chilliwack History Perspectives Collection)
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 19:53:15 +0000