ARCHITECTURE:
This two-storey Craftsman / California Bungalow was assessed at $5,500 in 1914. It has a low-pitched, front-gabled roof with exposed rafter tails, two more front-facing gables and a gable on the left side. All have paired brackets and half-timbering on drop siding in the peaks. On the left front is a shed-roofed upper balcony, now enclosed, over a substantial entry porch. Both levels are supported on paired square posts, the lower ones on tapered granite piers. There are exterior clinker brick chimneys on either side; the L chimney has an alcoved fountain at main floor level. The house is clad in double-coursed shingles. It is similar to 352 Moss St also designed for Ward Investment Co by Schallerer. The low pitched roofline and mix of rough materials such as random ashlar, clinker brick and shingle are typical of the California Bungalow. In 1913, A.B. Schallerer (b. Kansas MO 1889-1961) shared an office in the Sayward Building with Seattle architect E.E. Green (953 Empress Av), who designed Hart House for Ward Investment Co secretary Guy Brown (1961 Fairfield Pl) and 1442 Rockland Av. Both men also designed for Bungalow Construction Co; one of them designed 1015 Joan Cr, but it is not known which.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1914-15: Lewis Albert Finch (b.1875) and Ethel May (née Acton) married in Victoria in 1911. Lewis and his brother Perry Finch were the proprietors of Finch & Finch, purveyors of men’s furnishings on Government St. Lewis had a shop on Broadway in New York when he registered for WWI in Sept 1918.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1917-54: Harry Hercules Rowley (b. Yarmouth, NS 1865-1923) married Mary Rowed (née Denmark, b. Belleville, ON 1868-1954) in 1894 in Hastings, ON. From a prominent East Coast banking family, Harry came to Vancouver from Winnipeg in 1895 as a teller with the Bank of British North America. He arrived here in 1899 as an accountant for BBNA, and transferred to Rossland, BC, as manager in 1904. He went back east in 1909, then worked for Union Bank of Canada at various branches. From 1915-23 he managed the Victoria branch. Harry was treasurer of Christ Church Cathedral Bldg Ltd, Acting Assistant Provincial Commissioner of Boy Scouts and during WWI, treasurer of Victoria Patriotic Fund. Mary remained in the house until her death.