ARCHITECTURE:
This house is a 2-storey Edwardian rectangular box with Arts and Crafts features. The low-pitched hip roof with exposed rafter tails includes a small triangular louvered roof vent and two brick chimneys. Leaded art glass piano windows flank the prominent front-facing brick chimney. The upper storey is clad in stucco and half-timbering while the lower part has clapboard which continues uninterrupted to the foundation. The two claddings are separated by a belt course. The centre bellcast hip-roofed porch has side-facing stairs with a solid stepped balustrade. Heavy wood posts support the glazed entry porch which may have originally been open. Windows, often in sets of three, are multi-paned casements or double hung multi-paned-over-1 sashes. The corner property is surrounded on two sides by a stone wall and piers and includes a matching original garage with vertically folding doors. The house was built at a cost of $6,750.
The architects listed on the plans were the team of L.H. Yelland and H.H. Riley, who had an office in Victoria from 1912 to 1914. Little is known about this firm except that they also designed houses at 1034 Clare, 230 Moss and 146 Olive. The January 25, 1913, issue of The Architect, Builder & Engineer states that the firm had completed plans for an 8 or 10-storey structure for the German-Canadian Trust Co at the corner of Douglas and Fort Sts. The same issue illustrates a $7000 residence by Yelland and Riley for Mr. W.V. Coon at the corner of Fort and Chestnut Sts (extant-see Jubilee History).
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
Heath & Chaney, who built the house on speculation, were realtors whose office was at #217 in the Sayward Building. Ellis Edgar Heath lived for decades at 329 Moss Street, and ran a real estate and insurance business for 56 years. He lived at 806 Linden Av (Fairfield) for several years after he married his first wife Victoria Emma Cox in 1909. Victoria died in 1958 and he in 1968, but his second wife Hilda Victoria (Margetts) lived at 329 Moss until her death in 1986.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
The house was sold to Mary Adell Francis (O’Brien, 1871-1944) and John Vincent Perks (1868-1957), who married in Revelstoke in 1910. Della was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came to BC in 1899. A native of Birmingham, England, J.V. Perks immigrated to BC as a young man and worked as a clerk with the provincial government. He joined the 67th Western Scots Regiment and served overseas as Quartermaster during World War I, arriving back in Victoria after the war with the title of Captain. In 1920 Perks became Secretary of the Victoria Golf Club. In 1923 he was involved in the formation of the Senior’s North West Golf Association, an amalgamation of 10 clubs from BC and the Pacific Northwest, and served as the Association’s Secretary until retiring from both organizations in 1943. According to Peter Corley-Smith in his history, Victoria Golf Club 1893-1993, “Although he was so closely involved with golf for so many years, he never took up the game himself. Apparently no one could decide whether this was a good thing or a bad.” However, both organizations honoured him with life memberships when he retired. By 1949, Capt. Perks had moved into the Clarence Hotel at 712 Yates.
By 1952, this house was owned by William Charles (1892-1961) and Norah (Skinner) Dunstan, who came from Tisdale, SK. They also had rooms at 523 Trutch, which was likely a boarding house.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee
Recent Comments