ARCHITECTURE:
This is a late 1930s hip-roofed bungalow with Craftsman Bungalow features. These include double gables on the front with shaped bargeboard ends, a chamfered, battered porch post on a clinker brick pier, a side trellis, tapered window casings, and exposed rafter tails. The main body of the house has tripartite windows on either side of two gabled extension. The front porch is located to the left of the extensions. The front windows have diamond-shaped, zinc-camed upper panels. The gables have brackets under the peaks and patterned shingles above a denticulated string course. The left rear side has a hip-roofed box bay with a horizontal band of tripartite windows. The back porch is inset beneath
the main roof. There are two Craftsman-style brick chimneys; the front chimney is exterior and through the roof, located in the right corner between the gable and the main wall. The late 1930s materials include wide, rough cedar shingle siding, concrete steps and iron railings, and plate glass windows. The foundation is of exposed concrete
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1939-90: Construction of this house was supervised by Robert “Bob” Francis Dalziel (b. Victoria 1893-1980) for himself, his wife Irene “Hazel” (née Dodd, b. Victoria 1899-1991), and their three sons . They were both descendants of early Victoria-area pioneers. [Bob’s mother Frances (1872-1928) was the eldest daughter of butcher James Holness and Esther Shorland, who were married in 1864 in Victoria First United, aka Victoria Wesleyan Methodist. In 1890 Frances married Harry Dalziel (1864-1932), a machinist who came here from SCT in 1883.]
[Hazel’s father, butcher James Dodd (1867-1931), was the eldest son of hotelkeeper Martin Dodd and Janet McDonald, who came here from ENG and SCT, respectively, in 1862, and married in the same church as Bob’s grandparents in 1863. Hazel’s aunt Euphemia Dodd married Joseph William Rowland, proprietor of the famous Burnside Hotel at the corner of Burnside and Admirals Rds in Saanich.]
[Hazel’s mother Isabella “Isabel” Reid (1873-1955) was born in North Saanich to Emily Wain 1856-1923) and William Mcdonald Reid. Emily’s father Henry Wain (1826-1914) was on the first and second voyages of HBC’s SS Norman Morison in 1850 and 1851, going back to ENG as a crew member on the ship. He later married Sarah Davis in ENG and brought her and two-week-old Emily here in 1856 on SS Princess Royal. Emily’s sisters married two Horth brothers of North Saanich. Isabel’s father William died when he was crushed by a Clydesdale horse, and Emily later married William Bull, who adopted Isabel. Isabel and her younger sister Edith survived the Point Ellice Bridge disaster of May 1896, but two of their
friends were drowned.]
For some years Bob’s father Harry was foreman of Cousins Brothers (3140 Balfour Av) sash and door manufacturers on Garbally Rd. In 1916 he established Dalziel Box Co Ltd, manufacturing wooden boxes and shingles, at 501 Ellice St, later numbered 2851 then 2800 Bridge St, with sons James (formerly a realtor) as bookkeeper and Bob (formerly with Restmore Manufacturing Co) as a planer. Sons John and Edward joined the firm in the 1920s. Harry died in 1932 from injuries received after getting a lift home in a truck which collided with a streetcar on Hillside Av. The brothers were equal partners in Dalziel Box, although James (70 Gorge Rd E) became manager with Bob and Edward as company directors. Bob retired in 1948; he and Hazel celebrated their 60th Anniversary just seven weeks before his death. Dalziel Box Co was in business until 1979.
The family lived beside this property at 2915 Prior St for several years. Hazel bought this land from BC Land & Investment Agency in April 1939 for $441. The original estimate for the project was $4000 (per building permit); the final cost was $6801. Descendants still have bills and figures for all aspects of the purchase and construction. There is also a letter of August 1939 to Hazel from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Construction Branch, requesting that they keep a complete record and send forms to the Branch in January 1940, for the annual survey on construction in Canada.
The Dalziel brothers were also part-owners of Shawnigan Lumber Yards, and Bob cut the lumber himself in their sawmill: clear cedar for the structure, maple for the dining room panels, and arbutus for interior trim. Much of the materials and supplies were also from Shawnigan. Bob hired day labour for general construction, and subcontractors for particular jobs, including: Caleb “Jack” Horspool Dalziel Box Co, 2800 Bridge St, demo’d 1986. Coll Dalziel Family / 1920s for concrete, brickwork and stonework of the foundation, also waterproofing, chimneys, clinker brick pier, retaining walls, sidewalk and steps ($944); Alfred Bossi, plastering ($333) – the plaster was left to dry for some time, to avoid cracking; B.R. Bonner, plumbing and heating ($1400); and Thomas McDonald, tile work ($397). Bob used services and materials from Smith Brothers Foundry Ltd; McLennan, McFeely & Prior (switch plates, etc); Messerschmidt & Sons Glass (zinc-camed glass); and Evans, Coleman & Johnson Brothers (Maple Leaf tile).Much of the interior is original. The plaster ceilings are coved. The walls retain their original paint, hand-rubbed darker at the bottom and lighter at the top. The marble fireplace was never lit, to avoid smoke stains and sparks on Hazel’s carpets. The bathroom fixtures, still original, were ordered at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. The kitchen retains its original sink unit, cupboards and Pella windows with special screens.
The gardens ($95), including three ponds (extant), were by Hayato “Harry” Takato who in 1907 opened the Japanese Tea Garden on the Gorge with partner Yosyhijiro Kishida. Kishida’s father Isaburo designed those gardens and then Japanese gardens for Jennie Butchart at Todd Inlet and for James Dunsmuir at Hatley Park.
1990-2021+: Ruth and Ian McAllister bought the house from granddaughter Dalene Paine. The McAllisters asked the City for Heritage Designation in 2008.