ARCHITECTURE:
This house is an imposing example of an Arts & Crafts residence. Although it is basically a side-gabled, 2-storey box, it seems magnified by a unique, full-height, wraparound porch/verandah. The 13 steps up to the porch make it even more dramatic. Arts & Crafts details include bracketed eaves with exposed rafter tails, tapered porch columns and piers, simple flat wooden balusters on the verandah and balcony, and tapered brick balustrades on the porch steps. A garden wall of concrete blocks with a cement cap extends along the property from the front of the brick balustrades. Wall surfaces are sheathed in wood shingles with alternating bands of narrow and wide shingles on the second floor, divided from the main floor by a prominent stringcourse. The windows are 1-over-1 double-hung sash, except a bank of four windows at the front of the living room which are 6-over-1. A small high window beside the front door lights the stairway to the second floor; both window and door have leaded glass.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
Vinall built two houses back to back, this one and the small Jud Yoho-designed California Bungalow at 131 Robertson St (Gonzales) where he lived while he was building this house. This house was rented from 1915 and then owned by Clifford (1884-1978) & Lydia Agatha “Margaret” (Tober, 1896-1989) Bales. Cliff was born in London, England, Margaret in Kiev in the Ukraine. Her family emigrated to Winnipeg, in 1905 and her father worked for the CPR. Cliff came to Red Deer, then Winnipeg about 1910 and was a teller with Canadian Bank of Commerce. Margaret and Cliff were married in 1911, moved to Calgary, then came to Victoria about 1912 and rented a house on Belton Av. When their landlord decided to raise the rent to $20 per month, they found this house on Hollywood for $15; it was twice the size and had a view!
Cliff was a chartered accountant with James Wise & Co, realtors, for many years, then at Yorkshire Securities until retiring about 1949. In 1937, a listing came into the realty office for their house. The owner in Britain, a Dewar of whiskey fame, apparently saw a war coming, and was dumping his overseas properties. Cliff was strong-armed by his co-workers into going into debt so as not to miss the opportunity to own his family’s home for just $700. Margaret was disappointed because she would have preferred a house of half the size at the same price in Oak Bay, near Shoal Bay. Margaret loved collecting, and frequented auctions, antique shops and thrift stores for many years. She was also an avid gardener.
The Bales’ daughter Margaret Vivian was born in the house in the late 1920s. Vivian trained as a teacher at the Normal School, then taught in Williams Lake, Hope and Burnaby, before returning to Victoria schools about 1963. She worked as a substitute teacher until the early 1990s, and looked after her ailing mother throughout the 1980s.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee
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