ARCHITECTURE:
This two-storey, shingled Edwardian home was built for $3,400. The bellcast, hipped roof has wide, closed eaves, and there are two original corbelled chimneys. The front façade has a heavy belt course defining the two floors. The front main floor has a single-storey, hip-roofed box bay on the left and a shallow recessed porch on the right. Front-facing steps lead to the porch with its original concave brackets on plain square posts and pilaster. The original front door has half-length, etched glass side-lights. On the left side is a hip-roofed angled bay. Original double-hung sashes survive on the sides and rear. The concrete foundation is scored to resemble stone blocks.
The house is within and protected by Battery Street Heritage Conservation Area No. 2. The HCA comprises more than two dozen houses, primarily built in the pre-war building boom of 1903-13, but anchored by the unique 1889 mansion “Pinehurst” (617 Battery St). 624 Battery plays an important role in a streetscape of largely intact homes on the north side of the three-block street.
The house has value as an example of Edwardian architecture and for its association with architect J.C.M. Keith (Keith & Evers 1891-1930), who became one of Victoria’s preeminent designers through the 1890s and 1920s. Keith made a major and lasting contribution to the city’s architecture, designing many Victoria residences, primarily in the Tudor Revival or Arts & Crafts styles, notably the imposing Ryan residence, at 651 Battery St (1912), as well as prominent public buildings, including the Pemberton Chapel and Christ Church Cathedral. A number of his residential commissions were for 1½-storey homes, with half-timbering in the gables. This house, in the Foursquare style, and covered with shingles, breaks with this tradition and is valued as a rare design form by this significant architect.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1910-1911: The house was built for Ralph Switzer (b. Co. Limerick, IRL, 1834-1911). He immigrated to the US in 1885. The 1900 US Census shows Ralph Switzer, widower, residing in Oregon. His occupation is listed as “capitalist”. In 1908 Mary Murray (b. Co. Galway, IRL, 1876-1957) and Ralph Switzer were married in Vancouver. Mary was 32 and Ralph was 73. He died a year after moving to 624 Battery St.
1912-1951: Widow Mary Switzer continued to own the house until the early 1950s. For most of those years the house was rented out to others. In the later years Mary resided at the Devonshire House Rooms in the 700 block Fort Street.