ARCHITECTURE:
This 2½-storey British Arts & Crafts-style cottage is asymmetrical is design. It has a deep, side-ridged, hipped roof with front and rear eyebrow dormers. The front of the house has a hip-roofed wing on the left which is half-timbered and a gable-roofed extension on the right has flat brackets; they are separated by the front entry staircase. All roofs have exposed rafter tails. The sleeping porch, now enclosed, sits above a bank of five windows in the left wing. The right front has a wide upper-floor gabled bay; a narrow vent at the apex has been replaced with a square window which matches the style of the original windows. The upper storeys of the left wing and the right bay are jettied on chunky brackets, the left over a small, main-floor angled bay, with a large gable towards the rear. The front stairway, below the eyebrow dormer, leads to a small porch to the R and the round-arched front door. The multi-light windows have concrete headers and painted brick sills. The cladding is roughcast stucco. The porch now has a shed roof; roof shingles are a modern composite. The house retains its stone wall, gateposts, and wrought iron gate.
E. Stanley Mitton emigrated from England to Toronto in 1907, opened offices in Vancouver in 1908, and Victoria in 1911. This is the second house he designed for the Heistermans; 1616 Belmont (extant) in 1908 was for Laura’s second son, Henry George S. Heisterman. Mitton also did 1 Cook St in 1912 with H.T. Whitehead and 2024 Belmont Av in 1913. None of his other local designs exhibit the Storybook style like this.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1912-38: Laura Adams Heisterman (née Haynes, b. Dedham, ME, USA 1842-1938), widow of Charles “Henry” Frederick Heisterman (b. Bremen, GER 1832-1896). He came to BC in 1862; in 1860s political debates, he supported annexation of BC by the US. In real estate, he was local rep of Mutual Life Ins Co of NY.
Laura came to BC in 1862 with brother George Washington Haynes, superintendent of Moodyville sawmill [now part of N Vancouver]. The first teacher there, she had 13 pupils in a one-room schoolhouse until 1872, when education superintendent John Jessop decreed all teachers must be British subjects, forcing her to resign. She moved here, met Henry, married in 1873 and had seven children. Daughter, Laura “Agnes,” married David Russell Ker, manager of Brackman & Ker Milling Co; their son Robert Ker moved into 1524 Shasta Pl in 1923; another son, Russell Ker, lived in 1470 Rockland Av 1927-56.
The original 1875 Heisterman home was at 2665 Douglas St In 1910 Laura had architect John R. Wilson design 1521 Elford St (demo’d c.2015), then in 1912 moved to 1521 Shasta. Daughter Olive Irene (1884-1961) remained as her mother’s companion, leaving the house after her mother died.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1939, 1948-49: Laura’s granddaughter Inez “Jessie” (née Ker, b. Victoria 1906-1988) married Rear-Admiral James “Jimmy” Calcutt Hibbard, DSC with Bar, CD, RCN (b. Hemison-Ste. Malachie, PQ, 1908-1995) in 1933. He joined the RCNVR as an Ordinary Seaman and had a distinguished naval career serving in many ships before WWII, then in HMCS Skeena before taking command of HMCS Iroquois in 1943. He served in HMCS Naden as Flag Officer Pacific Coast before retiring in 1955. Hibbard Point, south end of Houghton Is, Thompson Bay, W of Bella Bella, BC was named for him in 1944.
1939-40: Lady Sarah “Zaidee/ie” Morris Harris (née Lambe, b. Montréal 1860-1958), widow of Sir Arthur Ambrose Hall Harris (b. Devonport, ENG 1855-1939); he was knighted in 1918 for his WWI services with Canadian and British transport and shipping ministries.
1941: Hon. Gordon Wismer, BC Attorney General 1937-41 and his wife Dot lived in 1021 Gillespie Pl 1951-68.
1942-47: Retirees Charles Robert Muttlebury (b. Winnipeg 1884-1961) married Clyna Elizabeth (née Hogg, b. Aberdeen, SCT 1888-1962) in Winnipeg in 1914. They came here in 1932 and from 1935-37 lived at 1470 Rockland Av.
1948-49: Hibbard, see above.
1951: RJH Administrator George Edward Masters (b. Vancouver 1906-1991) and Phyllis Mary (née Davies, b. Llangennech, South Wales 1909-1972).
1952-64: Andrew Milligan (b. SCT 1886-1978) and Violet Louise (née Cameron, b. Peterborough, ON 1891-1970) came from Winnipeg in 1949 when he retired as
regional manager, Canadian Bank of Commerce.