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1898 & 1912 · East Hill

Campbell House and Urquhart House: Two of East Hill's Grand Old Homes

Presented by Tim Jones · Vernon History

Video presented by Tim's AI-generated presenter, in his own voice.

In the 1890s, East Hill became the place where Vernon's merchants, lawyers and future mayors chose to build. Two homes, built 14 years apart, show how the neighbourhood's style changed as the town grew.

Campbell House (1898)

East Hill's most photographed house looks down over the city from the top of 30th Avenue. It was built in 1898 for A.E. Morden, a rancher and prospector who owned the Morning Glory Mine at Okanagan Landing. Most locals know it as Campbell House, after the Campbell family, who ran a furniture store and funeral business in Vernon for many years.

It is a Queen Anne Revival home, the fashionable style of the late Victorian years. Look for the tall corner tower with its conical turret and finial, the fish-scale shingles alternating with drop siding, the bay windows, the decorated gable ends and the wrap-around verandas with turned rails. The City of Vernon's heritage register notes it is one of four homes built on East Hill above Pleasant Valley Road before 1900.

Urquhart House (1912)

By 1912, tastes had moved on. Urquhart House on 23rd Avenue is an English Arts and Crafts "Sussex bungalow", designed by architect Otto Beeston Hatchard and built by local builder Robert Ford. Hatchard became known for this twin-gabled style and designed several other homes in the neighbourhood.

From the sidewalk you can see the cobblestone foundation, tall fieldstone chimneys, shingle cladding, half-timbering in the gables and leaded-glass windows. The City describes fir panelling, a stone fireplace and an inglenook inside, and a carriage house at the back of the lot with the same Arts and Crafts details. Past owners include Dr. Hugh Alexander, a local surgeon, and Dr. Rudy Fischer of Vernon's first X-ray clinic. The heritage plaque on the stone gatepost says 1912; the heritage register dates the house to 1913.

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