North Park - Central Park Heritage Tour
Tour some of the historic buildings of North Park, a vibrant mixed-use community adjacent to Victoria's downtown core.
Neighbourhood History
Lekwungen people live, hunt and harvest in the area, cultivating camas fields and Garry Oak meadows. They harvested bark from the meadows and alongside the creeks that marked what is now North Park
The northern portion of North Park was developed much later than the southern, because it was originally part of Roderick and Sarah Finlayson’s farm estate, Rock Bay. Finlayson, a Hudson’s Bay Company Factor, was in charge of Fort Victoria from 1844 to 1849. He purchased 103 acres from the Hudson’s Bay Company in the 1850s, and built Rock Bay in the block now surrounded by Douglas, Bay, Government and Queens. Finlayson died in 1892, Sarah (Work) in January 1906, and the estate was subdivided. Shortly after the subdivision, the rock was blasted to allow for the construction of Bay Street between Wark and Quadra. The sale of lots was geared towards wage earners and investors. Many homes in North Park were built from 1907 to the beginning of World War I, a period coinciding with Victoria’s greatest building boom, although the market had begun to collapse in 1913. The neighbourhood was conveniently close to downtown and City Hall. George Jay Elementary & Victoria High School were built nearby, and North Park can still boast of churches of many denominations. This newly-developing area of North Park was the first suburban neighbourhood to which wealthy Chinese businessmen and their families moved before WWI. Possibly the finest house in the area, Lim Bang’s (see 952 Queens), is now gone. By World War II, there were many Chinese families here, such as the Lees and Tongs on Empress, the Chus, Lowes and Wongs on Queens, the Lou-Poys, Lowes and Wongs on Pembroke, the Chans and Quans on Cook, and the Joes on Vancouver. Their children went to George Jay School for regular schooling, as well as the Chinese School, downtown on Fisgard Street, after hours. Many of Victoria’s oldest and best apartment blocks are in North Park, some include accommodation for shops on the main level. Several of the blocks have been demolished, but others remain as key elements of the historical character of the neighbourhood. A number of the City’s recreational venues are found here, including Royal Athletic Park, Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, the Curling Club & the Crystal Pool. Central Park, the City’s second oldest park, continues to be well-used for ballgames and other events.
01 / 39
1
2117 Vancouver St
1910, Colonial Bungalow with Classical elements: dentil moulding, paired columns (verandah has been enclosed), bellcast hipped roof, front angled bay, side box bay, rusticated concrete block wall. First owners were Jane & William J. Clark, retired Prov Policeman, ran Richmond Rd dairy.
Heritage Registered properties are not formally protected. However, heritage values are recognized and may warrant future protection.
2
2201 Vancouver St
1911, by architect D.C. Frame. English Arts & Crafts style, large knee brackets in front gable, note flat-roofed, gabled & through-the-wall dormers. Built for $3,850. Owners Maria & William Cooke Thompson, salesman for Weiler Bros furniture store; now owned by third generation of family.
Heritage Designated properties are protected by municipal bylaw. Exterior cannot be altered or building demolished without City approval. Designated houses are eligible for rehabilitation grants from the Victoria Heritage Foundation.
3
2209 Vancouver St
1924, Craftsman Bungalow, granite tapered piers, foundation & chimney, pebbledash stucco, exposed rafter tails, curved knee brackets with chamfered ends, decorative bargeboard ends, bevelled leaded glass, medallion in gable. Original owner Charles Edwin Janes, BC Government bookbinder, was living here when he died in 1961.
4
1030 Princess Ave
1911, 1030 & 1034 Princess are mirror-image houses built for $3,900. Edwardian Foursquare, bellcast hipped roofs, full-width verandahs. Laura & Robert Rutley, ladies’ tailor, lived here. Robert died at 70, hit by a bicycle on Quadra St.
5
1034 Princess Ave
1911. Edwardian Foursquare is one of a pair of mirror-image houses, bellcast hipped roof, full-width verandah.
6
1042 Princess Ave
1909, $2,400. Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts by architect J.C.M. Keith. Whalebone bargeboards, string course separating the gable from the main floor continues as the frieze around the house.
7
1054 Princess Ave
1911, $3,500, architect L.W. Hargreaves for taxidermist/furrier William Lindley & Mrs Alfred Goodwin. Colonial Bungalow: bellcast hipped roof & dormer; paired fluted columns, full-width verandah; river rock tapered piers, foundation, staircase; inverted Queen Anne leg balusters; etched & stained art glass in front door & sidelights; “Clayburn” red pressed brick chimney.
8
2015, 2011, 2009 Cook St
1908/1909, three similar houses designed by Robert McKinney & Co, “Architects, Builders & Builders’ Supplies”, who designed many houses in area. Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts style, triangular ends on bargeboards. All three were owned by Frank Stephenson who built the grocery store at end of block & was a horse dealer.
9
2202-04 Cook St
1933, $3,500. Originally a one-storey duplex. The second storey was added in 2019. Originally built & owned by Parfitt Brothers: Aaron, James, Mark, Fred & Albert from Peasdown, Somerset, England, founded major contracting firm in 1908, lived in Fernwood, were notable musicians. Parfitts built Armouries, St John’s Church & Hall on Quadra & Christ Church Cathedral. Brick houses are rare in Victoria; Parfitts & Luney Bros bought Victoria Brick Co in 1920 & Baker Brick & Tile Co in 1928.
10
1045 Queens Ave
1908, built by contractor Robert Hetherington, a Victoria designer/builder from 1890 till his death in 1938. Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts. Porch was later enclosed. Owner James J. Galbraith was a salesman at Weiler Bros furniture store.
11
1048-50 Queens Ave
1912, $3,800, architect Ernest Butterfield. Craftsman Bungalow, now stuccoed; random-coursed granite foundation, piers & balustrade on verandah (now enclosed); fine details.
12
1033 Queens Ave
1911, unusual Arts & Crafts, with jerkinhead (half-hipped) gable, recessed porch with square columns, dentils & small upper closet window.
13
1029 Queens Ave
1921, apartments for Elizabeth Street Gunn, a widow who worked as a dressmaker & owned several apartment blocks.
14
1016 Queens Ave
1920, Craftsman Bungalow, battered columns & stone piers, half-timbered gables, exposed rafter tails, pointed bargeboard ends & decorative diamonds on the architraves.
15
1014 Queens Ave
1911, Craftsman Bungalow, arch. C Elwood Watkins (designer of Victoria High School), owners/builders Luney Bros for sister Nellie & husband, builder Edd Williams. 1014 & 1016 have been rehabilitated to reveal original siding.
16
1010 Queens Ave
1913-14, $20,000. Central Park Apartments designed, built & owned by Thurston & Johnson Fairhurst; by 1917 they were on active WWI service, Thurston as gunner at Signal Hill Battery, Esquimalt. Note banks of 2-storey projecting angled bays.
17
952 Queens St
Original 1912 property wall on corner remains, house was demolished in 1970s, townhouses were built. Original house designed by architect Samuel Buttrey Birds for owners Lim Bang & wife Ng Shee. One of the wealthiest men in BC, Lim fought racial discrimination against the Chinese. Born in Victoria 1884, made Honorary Citizen 1973, died 1974.
18
1010 Empress Ave
1912, brick Montana Apartments, 4 suites on 2 floors. Second storey front balcony now enclosed. Owner Mrs Martha Muldoon also owned James Bay Hotel.
19
953 Empress Ave
1913-14 $4,500, Seattle architect Elmer E. Green. Craftsman Bungalow; cement-capped brick piers, stepped balustrade & chimney; 1947 bottle-glass stucco over original siding. 1937-56 owners Tong Yen & wife Susannah were Richmond Rd market gardeners with a shop on Fort St.
20
925 Empress Ave
1912, Craftsman Bungalow; original siding & details including angled bay, heavy knee brackets.
21
915 Empress Ave
1910, Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts; first owner Peter Maclean, North Ward School janitor. Rehabilitated to reveal original siding; porch restored.
22
2450 Quadra St
1941, Alexandra Apartments, architect Johnson & Stockdill for owners Winnifred & Mason Sands of Sands Mortuary; was previously named Sandholme Apartments. Moderne style, original front windows, dining rooms in elegant round towers.
23
2303 Quadra St
1910, Craftsman Bungalow. First owners Nancy & Herbert Shade, City plumbing & building inspector, designed house; family owned till 1952. Clinker brick foundation, verandah piers & chimney; gate pillars replaced, river rock wall, concrete cap; double porch columns, unusual brackets; original siding now covered with stucco.
24
864 Queens Ave
1909 Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts, raised and rehabilitated in 2013 for commercial use. Recipient of 2014 Hallmark Heritage Award.
25
859, 855, 853 Queens Ave
1909, three identical speculative houses, now modified, note 1920s basement garages. In 1912, both 859 & 853 owned by widows, Clara Graves & Emily Steele. Moore & Whittington, builders & lumber company owners, built many spec houses in area, including 827 Queens in 1908.
26
2308 Wark St
1909, built for $1,850; owner/builder timber broker Lorne Bell. Next owners, Chan Dun & wife Koo Shee; 11 of their 12 children were born in house after 1911. Chans owned Panama Café for decades, first on Johnson, then Government St. Note beaded, double-bevelled siding.
27
2319 Wark St
1911, built for $3,000 Architect Harry P. Stagg for Barr of McIntosh & Barr, contractors & builders; McIntosh lived at 2315 Wark. Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts: unusual fancy cut shingles on upper storey.
28
2411 Wark St
1907, by architect Francis M Rattenbury, who designed BC Parliament Buildings & Empress Hotel. Arts & Crafts Tudor Revival style: ornate half-timbering & roughcast stucco above shingled main floor with hoods over windows; rusticated concrete block foundation & garden wall, wrought iron gate & concrete urns; carved brackets & bargeboard ends. Owners circa 1912-55 were Elizabeth Kezia (Styles) & Frank Joseph Sehl. Prominent in Victoria music circles, she a harpist, he a bass with Arion Male Voice Choir & long-time conductor of St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir. Elizabeth’s uncle Samuel Styles built the row of houses on Amelia St.
29
2412 Wark St
1907 Edwardian Vernacular Arts & Crafts, first owner was Mrs Katie Verge. 1912 owner Ernest Scott of Scott & Peden retired by 1927 & lived at Union Club. Modern duplex rear addition.
30
838 Bay St
Plumbed in 1903 along with a new corner store. Address has changed many times, but thought to be an original worker’s cottage for John & Josette Work’s (Wark was original Irish name) Hillside Farm: begun in 1852, it grew to 1,300 acres. Daughter Sarah married Roderick Finlayson in 1849; the Finlayson farm estate Rock Bay ran south of Bay St from Rock Bay on Upper Harbour to beyond Cook St. Two of Sarah’s sisters were wives of BC Premiers, Dr William Fraser Tolmie & Edward Gawler Prior.
31
2317 Dowler Place
1907, builder/owner William Luney. Bill & Walter formed Luney Bros Construction in 1910. The Company yard was across the street from Bay St to the south end of Island Farms block. House now stuccoed; note random-coursed foundation & wall. Descendant Nancy Hughes has published book Built By Luney Bros Ltd.
32
804 Queens Ave
1910, Grace English Lutheran Church. Steeple removed & tower lowered, building stuccoed. By architect J.C.M. Keith who designed Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral.
33
820 Princess Ave
1912, built for $3,000; architect L.W. Hargreaves for Chinese businessman Tim Kee. Owners 1914-48 were Sigridur Gudrun “Sarah” (Breidfjord - from Fernwood’s Icelandic community) & William Peden, president of Scott & Peden, Flour, Feed, Hay & Grain on Store St. Son William “Torchy” (red hair) was in 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, a professional world-champion 6-day bicyclist, chocolate bar named for him; son Doug was all-round athlete, in 1936 Berlin Olympics, then long-time sports editor for Victoria Daily Times; son Ernie sold Scott & Peden to Buckerfields in 1967. House now stuccoed, verandah enclosed; original garage.
34
821 Princess Ave
1911, built for $2,800. Contractors Wm Dunford & Son. Arts & Crafts Chalet style; fishscale shingles on upper storey, brackets & bargeboards similar to 1907 Rattenbury house at 2411 Wark. Upper sleeping porch now filled in. Owners Jessie & Thomas Hawkins of Hawkins & Hayward, Electrical Engineers. Victoria City Councillor 1931-45, promoted hanging flower baskets. Owners 1930-42 were Annie & John Moore, master mariner, sometimes on hydrographic survey ship the William J Stewart.
35
830 Princess Ave
1908, built for $1,500 by contractors Moore & Whittington; shingled Colonial Bungalow with Classical Arts & Crafts details: note entasis (curvature for decorative effect) on the 10 verandah columns.
36
832, 834, 838 Princess Ave
Three similar houses in a row built by Moore & Whittington 1908-1909. Front gabled, full-width front porch with round Tuscan columns. Angled bay on left front, and shallow bay halfway down right side of house. 832 and 834 were raised an additional 2 feet and renovated circa 2012.
37
845 Princess Ave
1912, Bon Accord Apartments, boarding & rooming house, first owner was Maggie Duncan Christie, Victoria School Board Trustee from 1931 & first female Victoria City Councillor from 1944-54; worked tirelessly for underprivileged. Daughter Lily (Christie) Wilson was also on Council, 1956-69. Note paired front & side gabled dormers with turned finials; cantilevered bays, angled on front, box on side; small corner porch now enclosed.
38
2275 Quadra St
Crystal Pool, by architect John A. Di Castri. Built 1970 to replace original Crystal Pool located behind the Empress Hotel. Olympic-sized complex; acrylic domes were designed to provide natural, glare-free light in pool area & passive solar energy gain.
39
Central Park
Central Park (originally called North Park), is the City’s second oldest park: in 1906, 6.96 acres were acquired from Finlayson Estate for $21,000. The outdoor basketball court built in 2006 by Steve Nash (his hometown is Victoria) Foundation.