Heritage Register
Rockland
834-36 Pemberton Road
Camsona
Built
1903; 1907
Heritage-Registered
For: Mary & George Campbell;
Bernard & Margaret Heisterman
Architect: Samuel Maclure
ARCHITECTURE:
The many renovations of this home by several
owners has created a complex architectural history. New
research has confirmed that the original cottage built for
the Campbells was designed by Maclure, who called for
tenders for the house in 1903. It is believed that it was
originally a small, low, hip-roofed cottage. The three
windows with unusual sash at the front were a favorite
of Maclure’s from this pre-1905 period. He used them on
his own home on Superior St and a few other cottages at
that time. The 1907 renovation for the Heistermans, also
designed by Maclure, raised the roof line, putting a large
gable over the original walls of the cottage, which gives
it its unusual proportions. In 1913 Burke-Roche called in
Maclure in 1913 to do some minor work.*
The completed house boasts many distinctive design
elements for which Maclure’s Arts & Crafts homes are
famous. Camsona is a front-gabled, 1½-storey Arts &
Crafts house with oversized bargeboards and drop finals.
There are gable- and hip-roofed dormers on the left side
over two cantilevered and bracketed box bays. There
are two gabled dormers on the right over one box bay. A
small attic window in the upper front gable, surrounded
by stucco and half-timbering, sits above a wide, shallow
box bay on small brackets. The main floor has a recessed
porch to the right of the three small windows with wooden
muntins. To the left is a wide cantilevered and bracketed box bay. The shingled house sits on a stone foundation.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1903-06: Mary Campbell bought the property in
1902-03 and the house was built for $3000. George
Allen Campbell (1854-1928) and Mary Halsnod (née
Ward, 1856-1927) came to Victoria from Montreal in
1889. George was a long-time clothing manufacturer and
commission agent, and worked with the Boy Scouts for
many years. The Campbells moved to Vancouver in 1906.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1907-13: Bernard Sigismund Heisterman (b. Victoria
1873-1947) and Margaret Farabee (née Arbuckle, b.
Memphis, TN 1886-1979) married in 1907 and moved
into this house, which they called Camsona. Bernard was
the son of Victoria pioneers Charles Henry Frederick and
Laura Adams (née Haynes) Heisterman (1521 Shasta
Pl, Rockland). Laura was an early school teacher at
the mainland settlement of Moodyville. Charles started
one of Victoria’s earliest real estate businesses in 1864,
which his son eventually took over. Bernard later formed
a partnership with James Forman (1000 Terrace Av,
Rockland, 609 Toronto St, James Bay) as Heisterman,
Forman & Co. Bernard retired in 1945. Both Bernard and
Margaret were long-time members of the Victoria Golf
Club. Margaret was president of the YWCA during WWII.
1913-47: Hon. Edmund Burke Roche (1859-1948),
a member of one of Ireland’s most prominent families,
immigrated to the United States and took up farming
in Wyoming in the late-1880s. He came to BC as a
prospector in 1898 and to Victoria 10 years later. In
1912 he married Elizabeth Blanche Clapham (1864-
1935) who was born in Quebec and came to BC in
1905. Margaret and Edmund lived the rest of their
lives at this house.
1947-49: May Ethel Cherry (née Cottle, b.
London, ENG 1887-1968) duplexed the house. May
was the resident proprietor of 1195 Fort St in 1928-34, 1385 Manor Rd in 1935-43, 1320 Rockland Av in 1944-46 and 1337 Rockland Av in 1951-52 (all in
Rockland). She had previously lived at 1141 Fort St,
Fairfield. May died in the Matson Lodge, Esquimalt.
*Researched & written by Jim Wolf
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• Map of Victoria's Heritage Register Properties
• Rockland History
• Rockland Heritage Register
• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra,
North Park & Oaklands
