Heritage Register
James Bay

24 Douglas Street

Built 1911
Heritage Registered

For: William & Charlotte Bownass

Architect: Jud Yoho
Builders: attributed to William & John Bowmass

ARCHITECTURE:

This is a side-gabled Craftsman Arts & Crafts Bungalow with a front-gabled extension over the porch. The heavy porch pillars and solid balustrade are of dressed granite, as are the two chimneys. Bevelled siding is used for the lower walls, shingles with a horizontally-emphasized pattern for the middle area and half-timbering and stucco for the upper gables. The wide porch has an arched opening and is heavily trimmed with brackets; the rafter ends are exposed and decorated with fret work. The entrance door has hammered brass handle and strap hinges. Both the door and side lights make extravagant use of leaded art glass. The house is now the centre of a seniors complex.

Jud Yoho was a Seattle architect who sold plans through various publications, including the Bungalow Magazine and the Craftsman Bungalows catalogue. This house is a mirror image of 27 Olympia, James Bay, also built by the Bownass family.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

First owners, William and Charlotte (Lancaster) Bownass came to Victoria from Yorkshire, England, in 1892 with their son John, who later moved to Toronto. A plumber, William was the proprietor of Bownass Hardware on Government St. Later he worked as a bookkeeper for plumber John T. Braden until his death in 1930 at 83. Bownass was well known for cycling to work every day. Charlotte died in 1927 at 74. William lived at 24 Douglas until his death.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

By 1938, Katharine Welstead lived here. She was born in Faccombe, Hampshire, England in 1857, and came to BC in 1923, residing in Cobble Hill for 15 years. She came to Victoria, and moved to this house where she lived until her death in 1943.

Additional Images:

• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods, Volume Two: James Bay

• Royal BC Museum, BC Archives


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