White House

Description
White House is a charming one-and-a-half storey wood frame house built in 1933 located on the east side of Reid Street in North Quesnel, BC. The historic place includes the building and the parcel of land it occupies.

Heritage Value
White House is located in North Quesnel which is an older residential neighbourhood in the city. Over the years, major renovations have occurred, however the house supports the other buildings on the street that have experienced change. While not in its original form, the house is a physical reminder of the people who shaped the development of Quesnel.

The house is named for Archie and Dorothy (Leonard) White. Archie drove a tractor and cooked at road-crew camps. Dorothy was the daughter of pioneers, Charles Sr. and Mary Leonard, who operated a productive dairy and creamery farm that introduced quart and pint milk bottles to Quesnel. Dorothy worked at the British-America Hotel, now known as the Quesnel Hotel on Front Street. Archie and Dorothy were married in 1933 and lived here until the 1950s when they moved to Wells. In Wells, Archie worked for the Cariboo Quartz Gold Mine. Dorothy worked for Aveline and Lynn Hill at Hill’s Meat Market and also at Hong’s Store. Dorothy’s family is recognized for their contribution to the development of the community with a street named in their honour.

Archie and Dorothy sold this house to W. D. Parminter who later sold it to Edith Annie Wood in the 1960s. Edith renovated the house and turned it into a ten bedroom boarding house.

Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of White House include:

• a good example of houses built in Quesnel during the 1930s;
• a charming one-and-a-half storey wood framed house;
• a positive contribution to the streetscape as part of a group of houses of similar scale, proportion and exterior details such as a projecting entrance way;
• a window in half storey on façade;
• brick inlaid into stucco exterior;
• a symmetrical façade with large picture window;
• a steeply pitched gable roof;
• the south side of the roof extends beyond the north side roofline giving the appearance of a lop-sided house in a chalet-type style.