Cranna House

Built in 1935, the Cranna House has aesthetic value as a unique South Okanagan example of a whimsical and extravagant form of architecture known as Storybook. This style, based loosely on a mixture of European cottage styles, is associated with the exposure of North American troops to European architecture during World War One, and with the sets of Hollywood films in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Cranna House expresses many Storybook features including the side gabled form with steeply pitched roof and rolled eaves. Other Storybook elements include the use of smooth stucco on the walls and chimney, triple windows with many small lights, the prominent conical tower, and the use of arched windows and an arched doorway in the tower. The heavy board door, decorative quoins around windows and doorways, and the extended battered walls are also important features true to the Storybook style.

The Cranna House is important for its association with the use of Lakeshore Drive as a residential neighbourhood for prominent Penticton citizens in the 1920s and 1930s. The house was built for W.R. Cranna, a successful jeweler who moved to Penticton from Merritt where he had been mayor.