Heritage Register
Gonzales

515 Foul Bay Road

Built 1910
Heritage-Registered

For: Edwin & Bertha Tracksell

Architect: Samuel Maclure

ARCHITECTURE:

This house marks a transition from Maclure’s Prairie Style 1031 Terrace Av (Rockland), started in 1905, and his 1913-14 British Arts & Crafts 1000 Terrace Av (Rockland). All three houses are 2½-storey and roughly rectangular with hipped roofs, but the roof pitch becomes steeper with the more recent houses. The 1905 house has closed eaves, while this building has open eaves with exposed raftertails like 1000 Terrace. 1031 Terrace has a shingle-clad ground floor and half-timbering on the second; 1000 Terrace has a mixture of stucco and stonework on the ground floor and stucco with one small half-timbered panel on the second. Archival drawings show that Maclure had originally intended this house to have a shingle and half-timbering combination, but it was built with a mixture of stucco and stonework on the ground floor, similar to 1000 Terrace. As well, the stonework on both buildings is an unusual rubble fieldstone with irregular granite block quoins. The south façade has a two-storey box bay with a smaller angled bay superimposed, similar to 1000 Terrace.

Infill buildings have largely cut the house off from the street, but it still retains a considerable area of its original grounds. The south façade has two box bays on the lower level and balustraded porches on the upper, with a central two-storey angled bay superimposed on a box bay. The upper portion of this may be a later addition. The west façade has a slightly projecting half-timbered upper storey over a stone-clad lower storey with four shallow buttresses. There is a hipped dormer on the north façade, a cantilevered box bay at left centre and a two-storey porch with a balustraded upper level to the right. Many of the windows are 6-over-1 double-hung sashes with horns.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

The house was built for Edwin M. and Bertha Tracksell, who lived here until 1916 or 1917. Edwin was a partner in Tracksell, Douglas & Co, real estate. The second occupant was J.E. McClellan, who lived here 1917-18.

OTHER OCCUPANTS:

The Hon. John Wallace DeBeque Farris (1878-1970) lived here with his wife, Evlyn Fenwick Keirstead (1878-1971) and their children from 1919-23. They previously lived at the Union Club on Gordon St. Farris was born in New Brunswick to a political family, and was educated in law at Acadia University and the University of Pennsylvania. He was called to the Bar in 1902 in Saint John, NB, but decided to come to Vancouver in 1903 to become a city prosecutor. However, he also gained notoriety by representing many of the labour unions. Farris was a Liberal MLA for Vancouver from 1916-24, and from 1918-21 he was BC Attorney-General and Minister of Labour. Farris resigned in 1922 to return to private practice. He was appointed Senator in 1937, and that year was also elected president of the Canadian Bar Association.

Farris met Evlyn at Acadia University, and after graduation in 1899, she taught history in Connecticut, while Farris went to the University of Pennsylvania. They married in Wolfeville, NS, in 1905. Evlyn founded the University Women’s Club of Vancouver in 1907, and was president for three years. She was made an honorary life member in 1922. She was a member of the senate and board of governors at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for 30 years, and was among the first women in the country to hold these positions. In 1933, Evlyn received an honorary doctorate from Acadia University, and nine years later received the same degree from UBC for her work in post-secondary education.

Car salesman Harry W. Dunn lived here 1924-25, followed by the Hon. Dr. William H. Sutherland from 1926-28. He was the Liberal MLA for Revelstoke from 1916-37 and Minister of Public Works and Railways from 1924-28.

The Irving family bought this house in 1929 and lived here until 1947. Retired Lieut-Col. Lennox Irving (1863-1938) was a barrister and WWI veteran born in Pembroke, ON and educated at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 1900 and practised for a number of years. He began his military career in 1883 when he joined the 42nd Regiment, and in 1901 attained the rank of Lieut-Col. He retired in 1908, but returned to service in 1917 when he was appointed second in command to the 240th Battalion, CEF. He retired to Victoria with his wife, Grace Barnett (1885-1985).

Owners H. Malcolm and Mary E. McKay lived here from 1948-50. McKay was president of the boat-building company McKay-Cormack Ltd. Charles A. and Elizabeth Banks lived in the house from 1951-53.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Gonzales History

• Gonzales Heritage Register


• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Four: Fairfield, Gonzales & Jubilee