ARCHITECTURE:
This front-facing, 1½-storey house has a bracketed, jerkin-headed gable above an enclosed sleeping porch. The symmetrical upper front floor and the asymmetrical lower are features of the Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts style, as is the inset corner front porch. There are gabled, cantilevered bays on each side. A denticulated string course separates the two floors. Long British Arts & Crafts-style brackets and square posts on the solid balustrade support the porch roof. The main entrance has leaded-glass sidelights and an oak panelled door. On each side of the house is a cantilevered, angled, gabled bay. A water table separates the foundation and the main floor. The entire house is clad in double-bevelled siding. The house cost $4,800 to build.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1914-25: Walter Poole (b. Derbys. ENG 1862-1921) married Elizabeth “Marie” (née Dupen, b. Portsmouth, ENG 1874-1934) here in 1906. He came here in 1883, worked with J.A. Sayward, then G. Halliday & Sons, hardware merchants before entering the hotel business with father-in-law James Dupen as proprietor of the Telegraph, then Royal Arms Hotel. He died in the house and his funeral was held there. His ghost remained in the house and according to a later owner, was difficult to remove. Marie stayed here three years as an HBC hairdresser, moved to Vancouver and remarried in 1929.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1926-35: Reginald Hawke Genn (b. Liverpool, ENG 1871-1953) married Grace Jane (née King, b. Winnipeg 1880-1957) here in 1905. He worked on merchant sailing ships to Africa, NZ, and Alaska, then came to BC in 1890. He took part in the Klondike Gold Rush, and came here in 1901. He was secretary of Victoria Sealing Co. then accountant for W.C. Sampson. In 1921 he became a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC and established his own business. Grace, pianist, vocalist and member of Vic Musical Arts Soc. appeared in many concerts. She was often a featured soloist in local churches, especially Christ Church Cathedral.
1936-66: Edwin Munday (b. Victoria 1893-1966) married Jessie May “Maisie” (née Galliford b. Berks, ENG 1898-1963) who was living at Hatley Park, Colwood, BC, in 1924. His parents, Henry Edwin and Nora Woodward Munday (1091 Joan Cr, & 1035 Pakington St), founded the successful Munday’s Shoe Store, 1903-90s. Edwin spent his life in the business in partnership with brother Hubert Munday (1896-1976). Although Munday’s started as a shop selling boots and shoes it came to feature only women’s fine shoes.
1970s: Barney and Joanna Hagar lived here (968 Balmoral Rd).