ARCHITECTURE:
This house is basically Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts with its 1½ storeys and front-gabled roof. There is a 1½ storey gabled bay on the right side with a multi-paned window in the gable and a bracketed cutaway bay. There is a similar gabled bay on the left. The front gable has a few courses of shingles above a pair of windows. The gable, like the rest of the house, has bevelled siding. On the right of the main floor is a bracketed cutaway bay adjacent to an inset corner front porch. A Queen Anne feature to the left of the front door is the small sidelight with its broken pediment. The porch has a square turned post with shallow Tudor arches. There are turned balusters in the balustrade of the landing and the side-facing steps. It has a brick foundation with lattice under the landing. In the 1960s a whimsical cantilevered tower with a conical roof was added on the right rear corner.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1904: This house was listed in VDC Jan 1, 1905, Buildings Erected in 1904: “H.H. Macdonald–1½ story, house, South Pandora street, $1,200.” The 1904 plumbing permit lists him as Hugh MacDonald. This may be the Hugh McDonald, living in 1901 in the Dominion Hotel, who was single and a carpenter, born in 1861 in NS.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
Owner: 1905-17: Anna Maria Metcalfe (b. Nova Scotia 1841-1917), the widow of Albert Metcalfe. Anna lived in the house from 1907 until her death. Hugh Macdonald, then at 1239 Pandora, signed her death certificate, and her body was taken to Fairvault, MN, for burial.
Tenants: 1905: Jacob S. and Mary Wood. Jacob, the brother of automobile dealer James Wood (2667 Empire St, Oaklands), was a Victoria policeman, then a partner in Wood Brothers Garage at 836 Fort St, then a fiscal agent for BC Mausoleum & Cemetery.
Owners: 1918-20: Laundryman, then mail carrier Macdonough and Alice Snell came from England and married in Victoria in 1907.
1926-39: Retirees William Henry Long (b. PEI, 1856-1939) and Emily Selina (b. PEI, 1859-1936) came to Victoria in 1922. William made harnesses for 50 years.
1940-47: New arrivals John Warwick (b. Co Antrim, IRL, 1882-1948) and Edith Jane (née Goldsmith, b. South Africa, 1888-1947). John was a shipper for Enamel & Heating Products Ltd for his last seven years. John was living with his brother William on Pilot St when he died four months after Edith. Both died of pneumonia.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:
• This Old House, Victoria’s Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume One: Fernwood & Victoria West