Heritage Register
Oaklands

1481 Finlayson Place (ex-Sara Close)

Built 1910
Heritage-Designated 2001

For: Ralph & Letitia Flitton

ARCHITECTURE:

This single-storey, hipped-roof house has very wide eaves, and a central entrance with inset porch to the right and cantilevered box bay on shallow brackets to the left. The single porch support is a heavy square post, and the front steps have solid sloped parapets matching the rail of the porch to the right. The right side has a pair of 1-over-1 double-hung sash, the box bay has four casement sash below and four simple leaded glass transoms across the top. The left side has a leaded glass piano window matching the artglass in the box bay. The exterior finish is simple bevelled siding. There is a shallow extension to the rear. The chimneys and a low garden wall have overhanging cement capping with a post-1950s look.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

Ralph Henry (1846-1932) and Letitia Jane Flitton came to Canada from England in 1894 and lived in Vancouver for several years before coming to Victoria in the early 1900s. Ralph was the proprietor of a new and second-hand store on Douglas St. Letitia left the house soon after Ralph’s death.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

The next two decades saw a series of renters occupying this house. By 1937, Millard and Jean (Morrison) Mooney were the occupants. Millard was a mechanic at Motor House, operated by future Victoria mayor, R.B. Wilson. They came to Victoria from Edmonton in the early 1930s, although Millard was born and raised in Saskatchewan. He established his own auto repair business in 1940 and eventually had 50 employees and a branch in Duncan. Millard retired from his business in 1964 to devote more time to his job as an alderman under the same R.B. Wilson he worked for previously. After serving 13 years on City Council, Millard ran unsuccessfully for mayor. Although he intended on running again for council, he died in a boating accident in the Cowichan Valley in 1966 at 59
.
By 1946, Edward Jackson of Sidney Roofing Co and his wife Elizabeth lived here. Edward served in the 1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment during WWII. He married Elizabeth Souter, of Watrous, SK, in 1939. The Jacksons occupied this house until the mid-1950s.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Map of Victoria Heritage Register Properties

• Oaklands History

• Oaklands Heritage Register


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