ARCHITECTURE:
This asymetrical, two-storey, stuccoed house, with its complex bellcast hipped roof, is British Arts & Crafts style as influenced by Georgian Revival. There is a small eyebrow dormer on the front, and two odd-sized, flat-roofed dormers on the rear. The jerkin-head-gabled front bay has a large leaded window to the left of the main entrance; the vestigial porch has a small bracketed canopy with wrought iron braces above. The wall chimney on the right front separates two small arched windows in a hip-roofed box bay. On the right side of the house is a large, cantilevered, angled oriel bay. On the left side is a ridged breezeway giving access to the jerkin-head-gabled garage, built in 1927 for $1,450. The garden façade at the rear, facing a balustraded terrace, has a deep belt course separating the two floors; it has a shallow entry box bay and an angled bay. The 1923 house cost $12,126. In 1929 P.L. James added a library and sunroom with two bedrooms above for $10,000.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1923-53: Frederick and Abigail Nation (1320 Rockland Av) commissioned the house as a wedding gift for daughter Helen Maud (b. Brandon, MB 1891-1971) when she married Robert Henry Brackman Ker (b. Victoria 1895-1976) in 1923. Helen, a member of the city’s young social set, in 1917 was nominated to run in the ‘Most Popular Girl’ contest. He was son of David and Agnes Ker (1521 Shasta Pl), brother of Russell Ker (1470 Rockland Av) and grandson of Robert Ker, who came here in the 1850s. Robert was educated at University School, Saanich, and Haileybury Coll, ENG. He was a member of 50th Rgt (Gordon Highlanders of Canada), and went overseas with 48th Battalion CEF in WWI. He joined Royal Flying Corps in 1915 with the rank of Major. After the war he went into insurance and real estate. Later, he was president of the amily businesses involving flour milling, breweries and oil. The youngest alderman elected in Victoria (1923-24), he served 11 years. A philanthropist and patron of the arts including Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1040 Moss St), he received the Order of Canada (OC) in 1974. In 1954 the Kers moved to their summer estate on Arbutus Cove, Saanich, where the original cottage and out buildings were also designed by P. L. James.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1954-68: Henry Carter (b. Yorks, ENG 1895-1975) and Marion (née Cummings, b. Liverpool, ENG 1898-1987). He and brother Gerald ran Individual Dry Cleaners.