ARCHITECTURE:
This modest 1½-storey English Cottage-style dwelling was probably built to an architect-conceived, pattern-book design. The steeply-sloped hipped roof has very narrow eaves and large shed-roofed dormers on the front and rear. There is a gabled wing on the left front with half-timbering in the gable and narrow bargeboards. It has a brick round-arched, recessed porch, a single-panelled wooden front door and period door hardware. Most windows are casements in groups of three with multi-paned leaded-lights in the transoms. The exterior finish is pebble dash stucco with decorative square tiles; the foundation is concrete, the chimney, brick. Typical of the 1930s is the garage under the house. The curving garden path flanked by privet hedge leads to original steps to the street at the corner of the lot, with drystone walls either side. While embracing modernity in its planning, with more compact rooms, a shower as well as a bath, and no accommodation for a servant, the use of half-timbering and a rural English cottage vernacular reflects an international reaction to a machine age that favoured an industrial aesthetic.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1933-92: James William Dalziel (b. Victoria 1892-1992), son of Henry “Harry” Dalziel (b. New Cumnock, Ayr. SCT 1864-1932) and Frances Susan Holness (b. Victoria 1872-1928), married Yvette Dubois (b. Colwood, BC 1898-1969), daughter of Joseph and Leontine Dubois, in 1921.
A machinist by trade, Harry Dalziel came here in 1883 and worked with different lumber companies. In 1890 he married Frances and they had five children. Harry established Dalziel Box Co c.1916 with his four sons. He died when a truck he was riding home in collided with a streetcar on Hillside Av (1128 Topaz Av, Hillside-Quadra). Upon his death, James Dalziel inherited the company. In July 1932 it burned to the ground, was rebuilt and reopened in August. The Colonist described it as a “lasting tribute to the foresight, executive ability and engineering knowledge of the late Henry Dalziel, who planned the original building.” James became manager and, by 1943, president of the family company.
James and Yvette built their home in 1933. The choice of location and architectural style both suited the picturesque nature of the area at the time – a little-developed, gentle slope overlooking the Gorge waterway, allowing them to be close to, and yet apart from, the box plant. He lived in the house until his death.