Heritage Register
Fernwood

1270 Balmoral Road

Built 1909-10
Heritage-Designated 2012

For: Moore & Whittington

Builders: Moore & Whittington

ARCHITECTURE:

This Edwardian Arts & Crafts home has multiple hipped roofs with generous eaves and exposed rafter-tails. The through-the-roof wall dormers on all sides appear to wrap around the main house and add substantially to the top floor, so that it could almost be described as a two-storey house. Hipped roofs also cover the shallow box bay on the right side and the rear porch. The front steps are wide and shallow, with stepped, shingled balustrades, leading to a full-width, recessed porch which features a shallow, angled bay on the right and a stained-glass window on the left. Remnants of later stucco still cover the three large porch posts and some window trim. Where stucco has been removed, the original beaded double-bevelled siding is visible; an art-glass window was revealed on the right side. The upper floor is covered in shingles which flare at the bottom. The one-over-one sash windows have horns.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:
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For many years, this area of Spring Ridge was less than desirable, with gravel extraction, water-trucks loading at the springs, and concrete factories making noise and mess. There were already a few homes in the area, notably Mayor Dalby’s dramatic residence on the northeast corner of Balmoral and Camosun, but the economic boom before World War I spurred the demand for buildable land. The streetcar already served the area, with stops only two blocks away. In May 1910 the City offered the school board “the Gravel Pit Section” of Spring Ridge for a school. The board immediately accepted, provided the City grade and top dress the acreage “and level all contiguous streets.” So the stage was set and a mini-construction marathon occurred, as work began to prepare this lunar landscape for the huge Victoria High School (1260 Grant St, Fernwood), finished in 1914. The prolific building firm of Moore & Whittington appears to have acquired this key corner, Lots 19 & 20, before 1909, and re-divided it to accommodate two large houses and a smaller house with a storefront. The corner house at 1270 was built first for $1,900. The street name was changed from Fisguard to Balmoral c.1917.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

No occupants listed until 1912-13: Robert G. Setterfield; in 1912 he built the one-storey house with a storefront on the back portion of this lot. It was mis-numbered 1708 for decades and is now 1608 Camosun St. [Note: From 1913-34 Hillis and Alice Coulter ran a grocery store at 1708, and lived behind the shop with their daughter Eunice Hillis Coulter. The Coulters retired to Oak Bay in 1934.]

1913-43: Emma Jasper (b. Hartney, MB, 1873-1974) was a stenographer for Arthur W. Jones Ltd and later for Lee & Fraser; both companies dealt in real estate and insurance.
1920-46: Emma’s sister Florence Margaret Jasper (b. Hartney 1888-1979) moved into the house with her. In 1932 Florence married surveyor Philip Earl Huelin (b. Channel, Nfld, 1885-1934) at 1270 Balmoral. Philip retired early, suffering from tuberculosis. He and Florence resided in the house until his death, and Emma moved to 1531 Hampshire Rd. Florence joined her in 1935, and they rented out 1270, then moved back into 1270 at the end of that year. Emma died aged 100 at Glenwarren Private Hospital just up the street. Florence resided in the Glenshiel seniors’ home at 606 Douglas St, James Bay, until she died.

1948-57: W&J Wilson Clothiers salesman Alastair W.S. Lyle, his wife Susan, and their daughter Christine H.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Fernwood History

• Fernwood Heritage Register

• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume One: Fernwood & Victoria West