ARCHITECTURE:
This 1½-storey, side-gabled Craftsman house is rare for Victoria because it is built mostly of stone. The roof is bracketed and has exposed rafter tails; it is dominated by a large shed-roofed sleeping porch with a Tudor arch. There is a full-width, recessed front verandah which is entered from a long, wide, centrally-located concrete staircase; the flared step balustrades are of stone-capped granite. The wooden porch posts are tapered and panelled and set on battered granite piers; wrought-iron rails have been added between the piers. The front door and side lights are panelled. On the left of the house is a shallow, shed-roofed square bay. The gables are shingled above stucco and half-timbering; a wide belt course separates the gables from the granite-clad main floor. Several windows contain leaded art-glass. The foundation is of random rubble. There are two granite chimneys. The building permit issued in March 1914 describes the dwelling as an 8-room, 1½-storey frame structure. The estimated cost of construction was $4,000.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1914-33: Contractor John Valdimar Johnson (b. Victoria 1889-1963) built the house in 1914 when he married Marian (née Penketh, b. Victoria 1891-1957). He was the son of Icelandic immigrants Oliver and Gudrun Johnson (1439 Pembroke St, Fernwood) and brother of Byron Ingemar “Boss” Johnson (b. Victoria 1890-1964), BC Premier in 1933-37 and 1947-52. John and Byron attended Boys’ Central and Victoria High Schools. After operating a short-lived farming enterprise in AB, John returned and established a trucking and building supply firm with his brother in 1919, merging in 1930 with Evans, Coleman & Evans, as Evans, Coleman & Johnson Bros. Within a 35-year period, he was a member of Victoria Automobile Club, Vancouver Island Associated Boards of Trade, Citizens’ War Services Committee, Victoria YMCA, Victoria Baseball and Athletic Club and was president of Victoria Board of Trade. He served 27 years on Oak Bay Council, and was a member of Victoria Rotary Club 1917-63. Byron lived with them until he married Kate Scott (née Simpson, b. Hawick, SCT 1893-1968) in 1920.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1933-44: Marian Johnson’s brother, Thomas Arthur Penketh, CSM (b. Victoria 1889-1944) was a Customs Officer when he enlisted in WWI with 48th Btn. He was gassed at Ypres in 1916. In 1919 he married Henrietta (nee Reed, b. Tunbridge Wells, ENG 1897-1954) in Victoria.
1945-61: CPO John Robert Beneman, RCN (b. Victoria 1915-1961) joined the navy prior to WWII and retired in 1956. A bachelor, he lived here until his death.