ARCHITECTURE:
Montpelier, a two-storey Edwardian Four-Square with Arts & Crafts detailing, has a bellcast, hipped roof with modillions. There are gabled dormers on the front, rear and left side. On the left side below the dormer is a large, shallow, hip-roofed bay. A full-width front balcony which is 9’ x 44’ is supported on four massive granite piers. The balcony has four solid square posts, and square balusters in the balustrade. The full-width verandah now has an iron balustrade; the floor was originally paved with ornamental tiles by Canadian Mosaic Tile Co. The wide front steps to the right of the verandah have stepped granite balustrades. On the upper floor on the right rear is a small oriel box bay under the eaves. The gables and upper level are half-timbered with roughcast stucco above a wide belt course with drop siding. The cladding is drop siding on the main floor, bevelled on the basement, and it sits on a granite foundation. There are a number of new and enlarged windows and doors at the foundation level. An elaborate cast iron fence and gate along Rockland Av is also designated heritage. Now called Abbeymoore Manor, the house is a B&B.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
First owner Alexander E. Evans was a civil engineer who lived here until 1916 with his wife Ethel. He was coproprietor of King, Evans and Pickard, engineers, in 1912. He and Ethel came to New Westminster from England in 1900. Arthur Mayne lived here in 1917-18. Dr. Annie MacKenzie (née Chambers, b. Bruce County, ON 1859- 1949) lived here in 1920. She came to BC in 1898 with her husband, lawyer Hugh Cleland MacKenzie (1869- 1903), who died of tuberculosis. Annie practised medicine for 60 years and retired in 1945. Col James Grant Gordon (b. India) and his wife Winifred lived here in 1921. By 1924, clerk Charles Edward Thomas (1862-1928) was the resident. Charles came to Victoria from England with his wife Elizabeth (1862-1920) in 1898, and moved to Nanaimo in 1926.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
By 1927 owners Col Bernard Russell Ker (1897-1981) and Marie Louise (née Durand, b. Chatham, ON 1897-1978) were the occupants. They lived here until 1956, except for several years in the mid-1930s. Russell was born in Victoria to Agnes Heisterman and David Russell Ker, co-owner of the Brackman-Ker Mill. Russell graduated from Royal Military College in Kingston, ON, in 1916. He served overseas during WWI, remained with the militia afterwards and, at the outbreak of WWII, volunteered for active duty and took the 3rd Light Ack Ack Regiment (anti-aircraft) overseas, where he served for the duration of the war. Bernard and Marie married in 1920. She rented their spare bedrooms during WWII to naval officers. In 1945 their second daughter Daphne married the last boarder, Lieut Allan Rowan-Legg.
Russell was a director in the family real estate and insurance company, Ker & Stephenson; his brother R.H.B. Ker (1524 Shasta Pl, Rockland) was president. Russell served with the Victoria Real Estate Board for over 50 years, earning him a lifetime membership.
From 1956-77 the Kers lived at 1626 Rockland. Charles Robert Muttlebury (b.Winnipeg 1884-1961) and Clyna Elizabeth (née Hogg, b. Aberdeen, SCT 1888- 1962) lived here in the mid-1930s. Clyna came to Canada in 1912 and they married in Winnipeg in 1914. They came to BC in 1932, and lived at 1521 Shasta Pl, Rockland, in the 1940s.
Recent Comments