ARCHITECTURE:
This is a superior example of the Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts style. The 1½-storey front-facing gable with recessed porch balanced by an octagonal bay is a familiar form throughout Victoria (See for instance, the 1904 Maclure at 624 Avalon Rd in James Bay), but the unknown designer gave this an interesting zest with a dramatic Ionic column capital and matching bargeboard decoration. The house has conventional siding on the lower area, and shingles above, but the gable is accentuated by stepping out above a shallow, bracketed box bay window. The half-width porch has a leaded window. Two large dormers give a cross-gabled effect, and there’s a porch extension at the rear. The house is also graced with a matching garage.
The roof finials have been truncated, but a substantial restoration in 2008 has significantly improved the house, particularly putting back the original front steps and removing a modern side extension.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
This house was built for $1950 for William A. Leitch, but he never lived here. The house remained vacant through 1909. The first recorded resident was Abraham Van Aalst. He remained here for only one year, however. The house was vacant again for several years. Eustace Senior Estlin (1864-1951) and his wife Margaret (Smith, 1874-1946) lived here from 1921-27, and then moved to Burnaby. Born in England, Eustace came to Canada c.1880, and trained as a civil engineer. Margaret was born in Ontario, and they came to Victoria in 1921.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
Thomas L. Hughes was a federal government bookkeeper who lived here from the late 1920s until 1931. Frederick B. Jordon, a clerk, lived here with his wife Jean in the mid-1930s. By 1939, William G. and Elizabeth Smith were the occupants. William was an assistant at the Victoria City Dairy. William and Ada Ogilvie lived here in 1941. Widow Irene D. Woods bought the house c.1943, and owned it for the next 50 years. She was a helper at Yarrows during WWII.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee
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