ARCHITECTURE:
Endiang stands at right angles to the street. This is a 2½-storey home with a two-storey octagonal tower on one corner and angled bays surrounded by recessed, enclosed porches on the other; the upper is a sleeping porch. It has a bellcast roof with four matching bellcast dormers and wide closed eaves. A one-storey octagonal bay with bellcast roof faces the street. There is a wide flared, belt course separating the two storeys, with shingles above and beaded, double-bevelled siding below. A bank of five elaborate Arts & Crafts stained glass windows interrupts the belt course on the rear of the house. The 1960s photo shows a recessed front doorway; the present entry is flush with the main wall. The house is modified inside to accommodate suites, but the entrance hall retains its woodwork. The foundation and front step balustrade are of granite and sandstone with red rectangular pointing. There are three towering double-corbelled brick chimneys. At the rear of the property, a substantial, towered coach house has been converted to suites. The house is well preserved and still enjoys its generous lawns, while so many of its neighbours have succumbed to subdivision of property and infill.
ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
1899-1920: John Andrew Mara (b. Toronto 1840-1920) travelled across the country in 1862 by boat and on foot with the famous Overlanders, including Robert Burns McMicking (465 Belleville St,) and John Fannin, later BC Provincial Museum curator. Mara settled near Kamloops in 1869 establishing the first fleet of steamboats in the area. He was interested in politics and a staunch supporter of Confederation. He was elected to represent the Kootenay region in the first BC Legislature and later, Yale. He was Speaker from 1883-86. He entered federal politics and was MP for Yale, remaining until defeated in 1896 by Hewitt Bostock (1322 Rockland Av).
He often visited Victoria and his friend Frank Barnard (1462 Rockland Av, Duvals) owner of the Cariboo Express Co, “BX Express.” John married Frank’s daughter, Alice Telfer Barnard (b. Toronto 1858-1906) in Victoria in 1882. They lived in Kamloops for many years. He was ready for retirement after losing to Bostock, but the Klondike Gold Rush piqued his interest. He had the sternwheeler Stikine Chief built intending to use it to dredge for gold but it was lost in heavy seas. Alice was in Europe at this time while their daughter Ellen Frances “Nellie” (b. Victoria 1882-1956) attended school in Switzerland. John met them in England and they all returned to Victoria where he had this house built on a parcel of Alice’s family property behind Duvals. John was an active member of the Victoria Board of Trade (Chamber of Commerce), Royal Jubilee Hospital, and the Anti-Tuberculosis Society. Alice died of cancer in 1906. and he remained in the house until his death.
OTHER OCCUPANTS:
1927-56: The house remained with the family, but was vacant until 1927 when Nellie Mara married Alan Brooks Morkill, MC+Bar (b. Sherbrooke, QC 1882-1956), nephew of William Morkill (852 Pemberton Rd) who came to Rossland, BC in the 1890s with his parents. Alan worked for the Canadian Bank of Commerce, moving here in 1911 as Acting Branch Manager. He joined the 88th Regiment (Victoria Fusiliers) with the rank of Lt in 1916 and went overseas with the 7th (BC) Regiment CEF. After the war, he returned to banking, resigning as mgr of the Douglas and Cormorant branch at the outbreak of WWII when he joined the Canadian Scottish Regiment (Princess Mary’s). He was a noted local botanist and president of Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine Garden Society for almost 20 years. Their beautiful garden was often open for tours.
Nellie served with Girl Guides of Canada for 28 years, rising to provincial commissioner in 1926. She resigned from active guiding in 1943, remaining as a member of World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, Canadian council, BC executive, and chairman of Greater Victoria camp committee. Nellie was in England at a Girl Guide conference when Alan died. She died in Victoria eight months later.