Jack Norwood House

Description
‘Jack’ Norwood House is a charming one-and-a-half storey wood frame house built in 1933 located on the northeast corner St. Laurent Avenue and Callanan Street in North Quesnel, BC. The historic place includes the building and the parcel of land it occupies.

Heritage Value
‘Jack’ Norwood House is located in North Quesnel which is an older residential neighbourhood in the city. While not in its original form, the house is a physical reminder of the people who shaped the development of Quesnel. The building contributes positively to the streetscape that has other houses of similar scale, style, and proportion. The house was built by well-known local contractors, Stanley Oscar and Cyril Augustus Norwood. They came to Quesnel from England and worked with Harry Joyce. The brothers would build a house and live in it while they were building another. As one house was completed, they would move into it, sell the previous house, and start to build another.

The house is named for Cyril Norwood. Cyril was known as ‘Jack’. His nickname was given to him by Harry Joyce who could not remember his given name. The brothers specialized in cabinetry work and the construction of wood frame buildings. They built Quesnel’s first water tower and finished the interior of Telesphore Marion House on Front Street. Charlie Allison, the druggist, often hired the brothers to do carpentry work in his store located in the Hudson’s Bay Company Building on Carson Avenue. The brothers were confirmed bachelors who enjoyed spending their spare time fishing and hunting with their friend Dr. G. R. Baker. Jack was an avid gardener. He died in 1968 at the age of 91.

Dr. G. R. Baker and his second wife Helene rented this house from the Norwood brothers during the construction of their house on Bowron Avenue. Dr. Baker came to Quesnel to attend to an emergency operation. He was to stay in Quesnel for one year, but he never left. He was originally from Ireland and completed his internship at St. Bartholomew’s Medical and Surgical Hospital in England. Before the age of the automobile, Dr. Baker made his house calls on horseback until he purchased a Model-T automobile. Dr. Baker was affectionately known in the area as ‘Paddy’. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting and fishing with his friends, as well as participating in boxing and football. Once, Dr. Baker apprehended a wanted murderer and received an award for his heroic actions. In 1956, the G. R. Baker Memorial Hospital was built in his honour; unfortunately, he did not live to see its opening. Dr. Baker is recognized for his contribution to the development of the community with a street named in his honour.

In 1940, the Norwood brothers sold this house to pioneers, Thomas and Margaret Douglas. Thomas and Margaret moved to Quesnel to raise cattle. In 1920, they had a large ranch with 500 head of cattle and 1,000 sheep at Soda Creek. Thomas also had the mail contract between Quesnel and Prince George during the winter of 1922-1923. Thomas and Margaret moved into this house to be closer to their daughters Elizabeth Beath and Anne Ewing. Tom died suddenly in 1945 of a stroke while visiting his friend Jim Williams at his house on Reid Street.

Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of ‘Jack’ Norwood House include:

• a delightful one-and-a-half storey wood frame house built in the 1930s;
• its square form and clapboard siding;
• its siting on a corner lot;
• a commanding presence on the street;
• a gable roof with a window in the peak of the half-storey and bracketed eaves ;
• a sympathetic garage and porch addition built in 1965;
• a symmetrical façade with large picture windows;
• double paned sash windows on sides.