Walking down Bernard Avenue in Kelowna it is hard not to notice an immaculate two-storey heritage house with circulating ponds and leafy shrubs in front of it.

Built in 1910, the Muirhead House is owned by Charlene Habuza, who purchased it with her husband in 2002 and brought it back to life, later opening a gift shop inside.

“It was boarded up and not in great condition so we totally renovated it,” Habuza told iNFOnews.ca said. “We had it lifted and built a two-bedroom, two bath suite downstairs.

“We kept all of the heritage elements from the era, it’s all original, including the windows and flooring. We did have to put new gyprock and a sprinkler system and safety stuff.”

iN PHOTOS: Peek inside a 1910 heritage home in Kelowna | iNFOnews.ca — A heritage house in Kelowna has a waterfall and ponds in the front. SHANNON AINSLIE/iNFOnews.ca

In 2009, Habuza opened her gift shop Peddler’s Cottage Interiors, originally called Country Cottage Gifts & Décor, on the main floor. Walking up the wooden stairs and entering the home, customers are met with the inviting aroma of candles, soaps and wood, and wall-to-wall rustic home décor lit up with glowing lights.

There’s a staircase with a wooden bannister on one side, and a closed off fireplace with a brick chimney on the other.

“It’s a simple, warm space with rustic style pieces from local suppliers and suppliers from all over the world,” she said. “We sell a lot of candles and lots of lighting, like twinkle lights and silicon lightbulbs that have a warmer look.”

According to the City of Kelowna, the wood-frame Muirhead House at 763 Bernard Avenue was built in the Queen Anne style in 1910 when Kelowna’s North Central neighbourhood was developing just after incorporation, and extravagant houses were being built for wealthy residents of the city.

It was built by I. Mawhinney, a man from Northern Island and a few years later became the home of W.F. Muirhead. In the 1940s it belonged to a millworker and his wife, and in the 1960s was converted into multi-family accommodation.

The heritage value in the house is in its well-preserved architecture of the era that includes asymmetrical composition, vertical proportions, octagonal tower, and bay window. Recognized by the province as a heritage home in 2007, some information about the house is on a plaque visible from the sidewalk.

Habuza said the summer season brings in tourists from around the world and at Christmas her shop is known locally as the Christmas Store because she makes it festive and dazzles it with lots of lights.