Heritage Register
Hillside-Quadra

3012 Quadra Street

Built 1919
Heritage-Designated 1991

For: Robert & Annie Dinsdale

Contractor: Robert Dinsdale

ARCHITECTURE:

This house is a fine example of the influence of British Arts & Crafts architecture. The sophisticated use of materials for their textures and colours displays the influence of British precedents, most notably the Tudor vernacular tradition of the Arts & Crafts movement.

Set on a gray granite foundation at the front and tawny sandstone at the back, the main floor is clad in variegated and diapered brickwork, the upper in a warm-grey, bottleglass and broken shell-dash stucco between long, tightly-placed half-timbering. The soft reddish-tones of the brick are echoed in the tall, simply-corbelled chimneys and the roofing shingles. The windows are all multi-paned-over-1 double-hung wooden sash with horns on the upper sash (a very late appearance for horns) and set in pairs or triplets. The small dentils on a wide belt course are emphasised with dark paint. A squared front bay and an angled side bay on the main floor each have wider rectangular bays jettied above them, supported on elegant, curved, open sandwich brackets echoing those on the neighbouring 3010 Quadra St. The inset corner front porch is supported by groups of three and two chamfered square posts at the front and one pilaster at the the back against the wall. The porch has a brick balustrade with granite and concrete front steps with a wrought iron railing. The late Edwardian landscaping and the wrought iron fence are integral to the heritage value of the house.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

Local contractor and civil engineer Robert Chapman Dinsdale built this house as his family residence. Robert was born in Yorkshire, England in 1853 and lived in the USA for some time before moving to Victoria in 1885. He married Annie Belle Greene, of Cape Breton, NS, in 1886. She died in 1922 at 57. Robert’s contracting firm, Dinsdale & Malcolm, was responsible for the construction of several key buildings in Victoria, most notably Victoria High School (1260 Grant St, Fernwood) from 1911-14. In 1903, he built 3020 Quadra St, next door, and the family lived there until 1919. Robert was active in local politics and served on the School Board and as an alderman on City Council for several years. Robert died in his sleep in 1934.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

Daughter Alexandra “Mae” lived in this house with her husband, Dr. James Allan Fraser, whom she married in 1921. Mae was born in Victoria in 1902. After attending Victoria High School, she took business training, and worked as a clerk at the Parliament Buildings. James was born in Revelstoke in 1897, and studied dentistry in Portland, OR, before moving to Victoria in 1911. He served overseas with the Red Cross during WWI. He established a dental practice with partner Dr. Arthur Webster in 1926, and formed his own practice in 1930. James’s life was cut short when he drowned while fishing in Patricia Bay in 1935. Mae remained in the house until she died in 1939.

Owners Arthur and Gertrude (Hull) Stokes lived here until the late 1940s. Arthur was born in Bilston, England, and came to Victoria c.1907. He married Gertrude, also born in England and living in Victoria, in Vancouver in 1912. Arthur was a long-time employee of Swift’s Canadian Meat. He died in 1977 at 89.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Map of Victoria Heritage Register Properties

• Hillside-Quadra History

• Hillside-Quadra Heritage Register


• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra, North Park & Oaklands