ARCHITECTURE:
This is a good example of the Arts & Crafts Craftsman style, which swept through Victoria, especially Fairfield, after 1910. It exhibits all the expected elements: brick columns rising from the ground to support squat columns under a full-width recessed verandah; a low-pitched, side-gabled roof with dramatic open eaves and exposed rafter-tails; a centred gable dormer; wide bargeboards with deep bird’s mouth tips and appliquéd square blocks to imitate beam ends; triangular knee braces and decorative stick work in the gable peaks. However, a 1937 photo suggests that a few other Craftsman features — shingled cladding below the porch and siding on the main floor, wooden columns and some Tudoresque half-timbering in the porch gable — have been hidden by pink-based, bottle-glass stucco from c.1945. The stucco was the “cheap” job for $200; for $500 the contractor would have removed all the siding, and window and door frames. The interior is largely original, with most woodwork still dark stained, including ceiling box beams and pocket doors.
Seattle-based architect Elmer Ellsworth Green (b.Janesville MN, USA 1861-1928) designed at least 20 houses in Victoria and area, including 1442 Rockland Av, 1961 Fairfield Pl, and 162 Robertson St (Gonzales). He also designed California Bungalows for Bungalow Construction Co in 1912-13, including many on Durban (423, 451), Kipling (435) and Carnsew Sts, an area in Fairfield dominated by that company. [In the 1890s, E.E. Green and family lived on Ten Mile Point, Cadboro Bay, where Green was manager of the Giant Powder Works.] From 1912-15 he had a Victoria architectural office at #616-1207 Douglas St. While in Victoria he lived with his brother Royal Green, a contractor, at 2740 Bowker St, Oak Bay (Oak Bay Designated Heritage), which Elmer designed and Royal built.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
Owners: 1913-16: George Alfred Leach (1874-1936) and Mary Jane (née Mills, 1876-1951) came in 1911 from Millbrook, ON, where George’s father, a veteran of the Fenian Raids, was a druggist for over 50 years. George, a realtor, built several speculative houses during Victoria’s pre-WWI boom; he was later a telegraph operator. During WWI he was the sargeant in charge of staff clerks at Work Point in Esquimalt. Son Eric enlisted in the 5th Regiment, went overseas in 1917, and was chosen to play his trumpet before King George V.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1916-17: Produce broker Howard William Hudson (1872-1944) and Urania Adelaide (née Nelson, 1884- 1969) then moved to Vancouver.
1918: Reginald T. Ward, secretary of the National Motor Co.
1920-25: Rev. William Davidson Spence (b. Dundee, SCT 1883-1980), pastor of First Congregational Church (1600 Quadra, North Park) married in 1908 Lizbeth “Lizzie” Jane (née Spence, b. Dundee, SCT 1887-1976), whose father Sir Alexander Spence was Lord Provost of Dundee 1920-23.
1925: John Prisk (b. Crelly, Corn, ENG 1881-1950) and his father-in-law Edwin Dingle (b. Pelynt, Corn, ENG 1856-1951) held the mortgage and took possession
1936: P.R. Brown & Sons real estate salesman John Prisk and Elizabeth Watters (née Dingle, b. Truro, Corn, ENG 1887-1966) left ENG in 1913 and arrived here in 1917.
Tenants: 1923-24: YMCA gen secr James M. Graham.
1926: Rev. Alec McMinn, pastor, Metropolitan United Ch (1411 Quadra St).
1927-29: Salesman Parry G. Walker of A.P. Slade, wholesale fruit and produce. The house was vacant during the Depression, except for:
1931: Jesse Percival Sylvester (b. Victoria 1880-1945) married in 1914 Catherine (née Sangster, b. Victoria 1891-1956) daughter of George and Genevieve Sangster (161 South Turner St, James Bay). Jesse worked at Sylvester Feed Co, 709 Yates St and later as a gardener. They moved to 116 South Turner St in 1932; she moved back to 161 South Turner St with her sisters in 1949.
1935: E&NR engineer Ernest H. and Dora Davy.
Owners: 1936-65: Tong Lung Yen (b. Canton, China 1893-1956) married teacher Susanna Chan (b. Victoria 1904-91) in 1925. He came here in 1913. By 1924 they owned a fruit and vegetable store at 735, then 753 Fort St and the Capital Greenhouses at 350 St. Charles St. Tong, an elder of the Chinese United Church and executive member of the Chinese Benevolent Association, supported the Chinese National Republic. Daughter Marion (1925-2005) married Harvey Lim in 1945; they bought a farm on Blenkinsop Rd, rented another on W Saanich Rd, and established the Big Barn and Red Barn Markets.
1955-76: Yarrows sheet metal worker Leopold Geis-inger (1913-1976) and Anna (née Kanitzer, 1910-1974) were tenants, then purchased the house in 1965 from Susanna Tong. They emigrated from Austria to Canada in 1954.
1976-86: Their son John Geisinger sold the property to movie production manager Randolph Cheveldave and his wife Christine. Abrief scene from The Glitter Dome, starring James Garner, was filmed in the house in 1984.
1986 to date: Colin Barr and Jennifer (née Nell) were born in Saskatchewan and married in Regina in 1971. Jennifer, a heritage consultant, researcher, writer and desktop publisher, has worked since 1987 for Victoria Heritage Foundation (VHF). Now retired, she has worked on the updates of This Old House (TOH) books since 2010 as a volunteer. Colin was a stage and production manager in theatre for many years. From 1986-2010 he worked with The Butchart Gardens fireworks show. He is a VHF volunteer on TOH books, and a volunteer and board member of Ross Bay Villa Society (1490 Fairfield Rd, Fairfield).