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Heritage Register
North Park

2209 Vancouver Street

Built 1924
Heritage-Designated 2007

For: Charles Janes

2209 Vancouver

ARCHITECTURE:

This one-storey, front-gabled Arts & Crafts Craftsman Bungalow has exposed rafters tails and knee brackets in the eaves. On the right side are piano windows either side of the granite exterior wall chimney. There is a gabled extension toward the rear. On the left is a box bay and a gabled extension also toward the rear. The bracketed, gabled front porch is offset to the right. Two tall battered piers with concrete caps support the porch roof, which has a decorative, denticulated string course. The balustrade has curved, sawn balusters. The concrete front steps have low, concrete-capped, granite balustrades,which match the porch foundation. There is a vent in the main gable and a terracotta roundel on the porch gable. There are many bevelled and leaded art glass windows. The house has always been stuccoed and has a concrete foundation. A small rear porch has been enclosed. There is a low granite garden wall across the front of the property, with five short, round granite posts.

The interior has been designated. Original features include: golden-oak and mahogany inlay flooring and tile flooring; built-in bookcases and> buffet; push-button light switches; door hardware; and picturerails. The bathroom has its original tub and decorative tiles. Two suites were added in the basement, and the original unfinished attic was converted into living space in 2006.

ORIGINAL OCCUPANTS:

This house was built for or by Charles Edwin Janes (called Edwin in City Directories) (1876-1961), but for many years he continued to live in his family home at 927 Green St, just a block and a half from this house. Born in the USA, Edwin came to Victoria with his family in 1881, possibly from Illinois. His father George died of bronchitis at 46 shortly after their arrival. By 1887 Edwin’s mother Jane (Bestal) (1843-1913) was living on Green St with her three sons; she did not re-marry. Edwin was a bookbinder by the time he was 16 for RT Williams, who published a Victoria city directory. By 1908 he was working for the King’s Printer and retired from there in 1950. He continued to live on Green St until 1949, when he moved into 2209 Vancouver. Edwin died here in 1961. He remained a bachelor, and his brothers both died before him. He was a member of Aerie #12, Fraternal Order of Eagles.

Edwin rented 2209 Vancouver for 25 years to sisters Catherine Fluitt (1873-1954) and May Belle (1869-1949) Merrill. Born in Winchester, IL, the Merrill sisters came to Victoria with their family in 1886. Their mother Mary Jane (Manley) likely died before they came to BC. Their father Joseph (c.1832-1895), a photographer and proprietor of the Hastings Photographic Gallery on Fort St, died of TB. A third sister, Josephine, married William Baker Hall in 1895. Their brother, Frederick William, died at Dawson City, YK, in 1937. Catherine and May Belle were dressmakers for a number of years. Catherine became a bookbinder by about 1900 and stayed in the business for 34 years. She entered a private hospital in Saanich after May Belle died in 1949.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & IMAGES:

• Map of Victoria Heritage Register Properties

• North Park History

• North Park Heritage Register


• This Old House, Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods,
Volume Three: Rockland, Burnside, Harris Green,
Hillside-Quadra, North Park & Oaklands


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