Heritage Register
Rockland

830 St. Charles Street

Built 1914
Heritage-Registered

For: William & Florence Irish

Designer/Builder: William A. Irish

ARCHITECTURE:

This 1½-storey cross-gabled California Bungalow has low-pitched rooflines, a gabled extension to the rear and a gabled full-width verandah across the front. Rustic granite piers support the front verandah roof as well as the porte-cochère on the left [south] side, which has a balcony above. The chimneys are also granite. The lower walls are clad in double-bevelled siding, with shingle above. Most windows are grouped multi-over-single panes. There are some art glass windows on the south side. The eaves are supported with massive stacked and bevelled timber brackets and the bargeboards have a row of square bevelled bosses. The front porch, as well as its impressive granite stonework, has a timber-braced gable. The wide central entrance door has brass strap hinges and a matching latch with fleur de lis finials. The original stable at the rear is side-gabled with a small dormer over the double pair of panelled doors on the left. The walls are shingled and the gables match the house with full decorative treatment. The garden plan remains intact with a lower terrace to the south and a trellis fence separating the front garden from the rear. There is a granite wall with wrought iron gates at the front.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

First owner William Arthur Irish designed and built this house for $14,000, according to The Architect, Builder and Engineer for July 10, 1914. He sold the house after his wife Florence Blanche died in 1915 at 33, nine months after moving from Winnipeg. William returned to Winnipeg and married Mary Edith Fares in 1922.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

By 1917 the Hon. Robert Brant Mosher (1856-1927), US Consul, was the owner/resident. He came to Victoria in 1915 as successor to the late Abraham Smith (610 Avalon Rd, James Bay), and retired in 1924. Born in Washington, DC, Robert worked in various bureaucratic positions, and from 1905 served as consul in various countries including South Africa, China and Germany. In addition he contributed articles to the Encyclopedia Americana and was editor of the Executive Register of the United States. Robert died in New York, his wife Jane died in Victoria in 1944 at 84.

By 1921 automobile dealer William H. Dayton lived here. George Dickson Bouton (1859-1930) was the next resident. Born in Ohio, George studied law and became managing director of the American Finance and Securities Co of New York and Philadelphia. He moved to Victoria in 1920 and ran logging operations in the Cowichan Valley. He was president of Empire Logging Co, and held interests in mining ventures in Mexico, the southern US, and Oregon. He was married with an adopted daughter, Minnie Moore.

This house was then vacant for several years. Florence Clough, a dance teacher, lived here in 1937. By 1939, Walter Tree-Keeble (1876-1967) and wife Margaret (Rheilbach, 1888-1975) were living here. Walter was born in London, England, Margaret in Cologne, Germany. Walter was a life insurance agent, and lived in Mexico before retiring to Victoria in 1938. Physician Dr. George A.B. Hall and his wife Charlotte lived here in 1943.

The Bell family took up residence here in the mid-1940s. James Leslie Bell (1885-1970), an accountant, was born in Chester, England. He came to Canada in 1905, and retired to Victoria with his wife, Agnes Oriane (Porritt, 1895-1982), a native of this city. The Bell family lived here until James died in 1970.

In the mid-to late-1970s, this was the home of barrister and solicitor Michael D.W. Young, Mayor of Victoria 1975-79, and his wife Penny. It was during his term in office that City Council adopted the City’s first Heritage Registry, and began its funding program for restoration and maintenance work on Heritage-Designated houses, in 1978.

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