ARCHITECTURE:
This is a two-storey painted brick building with two façades and a corner recessed entry. A steel post supports the corner of the upper floor. The Fernwood façade has two bays on the upper floor and one on the lower. The corner entry has glass display windows on either side. The Gladstone façade has seven upper bays, and four bays and two entrances on the lower floor. The lower bays have central shop entrances and display windows, with two levels of clerestory windows above. The bays are all separated by pilasters with concrete bases and capitals. The upper floor capitals are above the parapet. A stringcourse divides the first and second floors; the metal cornice below the parapet was removed because it had rusted away. The windows have flat brick lintels on Fernwood and Gladstone, and segmental arches at the rear. The upper floor was and is apartments.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1910-28: Parfitt Brothers constructed this commercial & office / apartment block a year or so after they built the house at 1923 Fernwood Rd. They used 1303 as their company headquarters. In 1928 they moved their offices to the more high-profile 1405 Douglas St downtown.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1914-16+: The taxes on this building were paid by Christina McLimont (1858-1950), a single woman. In 1915-18 she lived at 852 Pemberton Rd, Rockland with her mother Sarah Eliza, widow of William McLimont, and her sister Helena; all were born in Quebec City. In 1920-38 they lived in the P. L. James designed house at 1560 Rockland Av. Christina then moved to Vancouver to be with other siblings.
The building housed a variety of businesses on the main floor, including:
1301:
1910-13: Fernwood Pharmacy then moved next door to 1923 Fernwood Rd.
1927-57: Fernwood Meat Market, proprietors: James Waters (b. Maidenhead, ENG, 1894-1950), who then was a salesman for Canada Packers until his death. Frederick Albert Freer (b. Paignton, Devon, ENG, 1901-1979).
1305:
1912-22: Mrs. Fanny Elizabeth Hewartson (née Lemm, b. London, ENG, 1853-1922) sold dry goods. She came to Victoria c.1890 with her husband William, a bookkeeper.
1307:
1915-26: Rose Farm Dairy, proprietor Reginald Harper Lott (b. Brandon, MB, 1896-1977), Joseph Lott’s son, who lived at 1921 Fernwood Rd. Reg signed up with the CEF in 1915. He also worked as a jeweller, draftsman and bakery salesman. Reg’s son Joseph W. Lott Jr. was a local school teacher and principal.
1311:
1912-17: Shoemaker Joseph William Lott Sr. (b. Kensington, ENG, 1871-1925), a widower, in 1917 married widow Addie Dayton MacIntosh across the street in Emmanuel Baptist Church (1900 Fernwood Rd) manse, 1922 Fernwood Rd. He moved his shop to 2010 Fernwood Rd. From 1926-51: Beaver Barber Shop, proprietors: Laughlin MacLean (b. NS 1880-1950) was a bookkeeper when he signed his WWI attestation paper in 1915. John McCurdy Cooper (b. Pennsylvania 1876-1957) lived at 1349 Grant St, Fernwood, in 1935. Maurice J. Cunningham.
After years of neglect, the building was acquired by the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group (FNRG) in 2005. They rehabilitated the structure with over 10,000 hours of volunteer effort from citizens, professionals, and Victoria High School students. In 2007 they won the Hallmark Heritage Society’s President’s Award “for the show-stopping rehabilitation of the Cornerstone Building“. They successfully reduced energy use and greenhouse gas emisions, winning a CMHC national award in 2008.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume One: Fernwood & Victoria West