ARCHITECTURE:
This charming 1-storey California Bungalow is built low to the ground, with a low-pitched multi-gabled roof. The gable ends feature decorative triangular knee brackets but unlike most California Bungalows, its overhanging eaves are enclosed. The exterior is clad in rustic lapped siding. The foundation level is shingled. The side-gabled porch is partially recessed with a side-facing entry. The front door is glazed with narrow vertical panes. A simple wooden balustrade spans the openings between the massive shingled piers. Heavy square posts top two of the capped piers. The front façade features two sets of matching triple windows consisting of a central fixed pane with a transom, flanked by 6-over-1 double-hung windows. Leaded art glass piano windows are found on the side box bay as well as either side of the exterior wall chimney.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
This house was built by the Greenwood California Lumber Co in 1912 and plumbed in 1913 by W. Green. The earliest known occupant, in 1917, was John Mack, a draftsman.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
The Vivian family bought this house by 1920 and lived here for over 55 years. Arthur Herbert Vivian (1889-1960) was a lithographer with the Victoria Daily Colonist for 45 years. He was born in Port Arthur, ON, and came to Vancouver in 1914. That year he married Rebecca Isobel Scott (1894-1976), a native of Winnipeg, MB. They moved to Victoria shortly after and spent the rest of their lives in the house.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee
Recent Comments