Heritage Register
Fernwood

1924 Belmont Avenue
Oak Villa

Built 1891
Heritage-Designated 1991

For: Martha & Alfred Wescott

Architect: attributed to John Teague

ARCHITECTURE:

Oak Villa is a prominently located two-storey Queen Anne house. It has a steep hipped roof with eaves brackets. Two gabled roof dormers bracket the corner pedimented two-storey square bay. A similar diagonal pedimented bay is seen on the 1891 Maplewood, 1140 Arthur Currie Lane, Vic West; both houses also have many Queen Anne windows. There is a third dormer on the left side and a fourth on the hip-roofed rear extension. A pent roof between the two floors wraps around the right side and the bay. It continues along the front and left sides as the balustrade for the balcony. The verandah below the balcony has square posts with turnings, and an Eastlake frieze and balustrade. On the right side is a curve-topped Palladian window. For many years the curved tops were covered with asbestos siding, as was the whole house. The tops of the gables and the pent roof are shingled, the body of the house is sheathed in drop siding. It was duplexed in 1960 by E. Raeder.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
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1891-97: Martha Ann (née Haughton, b. Cheshire, ENG, 1864-1902) and Alfred Ernest Wescott (b. Nova Scotia, 1855-1932). Alfred boarded a schooner for the long voyage around Cape Horn and up to Victoria in 1875 and married Emma Edmonds in Victoria in 1879. Alfred worked as a steward on the SS Beaver. Emma died sometime before 1889 and Alfred then married Martha Haughton. Alfred’s brother Elmer Wescott (1702 Fernwood Rd) lived with them. Alfred and Elmer worked for Martha’s father, Thomas Haughton (1444-48 Pembroke St, Fernwood), drygoods merchant at Manchester House. Elmer, Alfred and their brother Russell (1334 Johnson St, Fernwood) owned the business by 1900 and renamed it Wescott Bros Drygoods. Alfred and Martha were in Trail, BC, when Martha died. Alfred came back to the drygoods business, but was in Brandon, MB, visiting a daughter when he died. He and Martha were buried in Ross Bay Cemetery.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

1897-1911: Albert Jehiel Pineo (b. NB 1855-1933) and Elizabeth Stearns (née Masters, b. NS 1860-1917). Albert taught chemistry and botany at Victoria High School. He eventually left teaching and entered the ministry, living in Edmonton for some time. Elizabeth died in Vancouver, and Albert in Port Alberni. Their son Holmes DeWolfe Pineo ran Fernwood Pharmacy at 1923 Fernwood Rd.

1912-40: Peter Marquart (b, Londonberg, Denmark, 1862-1941) came to Canada in 1881 and established a ranch in the Nicola Valley, BC. He married Marie Maas (1862-1925) from Holland in Victoria in 1888. Peter sold real estate during Victoria’s pre-WWI boom years, then returned to the ranch. From 1926 their daughters Agnes Louise (1894-1974), a stenographer at O’Halloran & Harvey, and Wilhemina “Marie” (b. Nicola, BC, 1896-1984), a steno with the BC government, lived here. The sisters resided at Gillespie Guest House (1015 Gillespie Pl, Rockland) when Agnes died. Marie was at Mount St Mary (999 Burdett Av, Fairfield) when she died.

1941-50: Antique dealers Arthur Leadbetter (b. Lancs, ENG, 1878-1962) and Ellen (née Brown, ENG 1882-1972) came here in 1902 and 1910. Their son Arthur Jr, a used furniture dealer, lived with them. While Arthur was on WWI active service, Ellen lived at 1211 & 1449 Pembroke St, Fernwood. They later lived at 349 Foul Bay Rd, Gonzales.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Fernwood History

• Fernwood Heritage Register


• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume One: Fernwood & Victoria West