A beloved old house known by long-time Vernonites as Hydro House was once a place for the community to gather and later the place to go for giant New Year\u2019s Eve parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The stunning three-storey wooden house was originally built near a sawmill on Kalamalka Lake Road where Polson Place Mall now stands. The owners dragged the house further up the road in the early 1970s across from the BC Hydro building where it sat on a sizeable chunk of farmland for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Morrison grew up in Vernon in the 1960s and 70s and spent a lot of time at Hydro House. His dad had a shop nearby and over the years, Morrison would deliver newspapers to the house or be there chopping firewood and doing yard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat house originally was owned by Johnny and Deanna Toperchuk, it was an old, old house, that\u2019s for damn sure,\u201d he said. \u201cJohnny was a character and so was his dad. Johnny owned land through to the back of the Vernon golf course, he was farming all that property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe was my scout leader for years so we\u2019d have scout meetings there and we\u2019d meet for camps, they were great people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morrison said the house was a community hub back in the day with a lot of agricultural work going on around it. During that time much of Vernon was covered with orchards and cattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The big house had decks, patios and a tall stone chimney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was all wood floors, wood everywhere inside with old wood doors,\u201d Morrison said. \u201cThere are a lot of old homes like that in Vernon. They have wooden walls coming out of the floors to segregate the great rooms.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The owners sold the house and bought a ranch near Swan Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Throughout the 1980s Hydro House under new owners became known as the place to be for New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations. Morrison attended a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would be a big bash with at least 125 people from the community showing up,\u201d he said. \u201cI was part of a group that partied hardy all the time and we\u2019d go there for New Years Eve.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, the Hydro House New Year\u2019s Eve parties were remembered in a social media group, Vintage Vernon BC. <\/a>The parties are described as legendary with one commenter recalling the major cleanups that took place the following morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hydro House has since been torn down and replaced with other development, but it is fondly remembered by many Vernon residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a place of fellowship until the Toperchuk\u2019s sold it, and after they sold it, it became a place of friendship,\u201d Morrison said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n