2018 Stanley Avenue, Victoria, BC

This one has only recently become abandoned; several months ago, it was in the process of being renovated, but then the work stopped and now it's sitting fenced with the roof half off, construction material scattered around the yard, and some recent graffiti marring the front (which happened after I took the above photo). Here's the Google street view link.

I haven't taken any more photos or done much of my own research, because other people have already been doing both. A recent Vic News article states: "Originally built in 1912, the arts and craft California bungalow-style home (designed by the same architect who designed the original McPherson Theatre) has all the original features such as the copper beam ceilings, french doors and push button light switches still intact" (see interior photos below). The reason the house made it into the news is that some of the neighbors have been advocating for it to be saved, rather than demolished. There's even a Facebook page, Save 2018 Stanley Avenue, with regular updates, photos, and more info: "Built in 1912, this character house was designed by Jesse M Warren. Its new owners are considering demolishing it after neglecting it the past 4 months."

More info came out in a recent CTV news segment. Apparently the renovations stopped because an environmental assessment returned "negative results", leading the owner to decide it would be best to just build a new house--and so the current one was left with the roof open to the rain, even after the owner promised to tarp it way back in September. The owner plans to start construction of the new house in January; according to Vic News, the neighbors are hoping the current house can be relocated.

Vic News also informs us that "The former owner lived in the character house for several decades before he passed away. His family eventually sold the property earlier this year." Before the sale, the house was mostly hidden behind trees. The sale listing read: "If you are HANDY this home is the perfect place for you. 1912 character home with beautiful original built-in woodwork untouched." The photos from the listing don't show up on that page, but I found them using Google image search, and have included them here.

Here's one more photo I found, and there are more on the Facebook page.

One more quote from the Vic News article: " 'The owner has the right to do what he wants with his property. But I also felt that the house brings a lot to the neighbourhood and has the potential to be a shining star,' [Chris] Grieve [founder of the Facebook page] said, adding some people have even offered to buy the home in order to save it." So clearly there's a lot of interest in keeping this house around, and with all the publicity it's been getting, hopefully that's what will happen.

1152 & 1154 Johnson Street

I discovered these two today, soon to be torn down to make way for condos. They were built in 1902, so they're over a hundred years old, but now we're going to lose them to development.

1152, left side--check out the lovely art glass window

art glass close-up

1152, back

1154, front

back

1154, back

1154, side

There's not much of a story here--from Google maps, it looks like they were lived in until just recently. So they're not technically abandoned, just vacated and waiting for demolition.

Google street view May 2014, looking like actual homes

Google's image of the back, May 2014

I also found some photos taken in October 2014 by Lotus Johnson (reproduced here under a creative commons license).

source (Flickr)

source (Flickr)

Another house, 1406 Chambers Street, also built in 1902, was already torn down to make way for the new development. It used to be right behind these two. I never saw it in person, but here's a photo taken by Lotus Johnson, also in October 2014.

source (Flickr)

Here's Google's image from May 2014. I bet the garage was original.

Google's image of the back of 1406 Chambers/side of 1152 Johnson, May 2015

So, basically, we're losing a cluster of 1902 houses, leaving this one on Chambers (also 1902) surrounded by new buildings. I wonder how long it will last.

This article about the new development, published October 6, 2015, says that "Currently at the site crews are dismantling structures in preparation for construction." I'm glad I caught the two on Johnson before they're completely gone.

515-517 Wilson Street, Victoria, BC

This is another one in Vic West, built in 1912, a lovely character home. It's got finials! And drop finials!

And obvious fire damage. Its story is pretty sad. First, there was a fire in January 2014. According to Victoria News: "A top-floor suite at a Vic West character home is uninhabitable [...] after a coil heater overloaded an extension cord. Victoria fire crews were called to the home [...] around 6:45 a.m. Inside, they found a man struggling to put out a hallway fire that was spreading from the carpet up the walls of his suite."

The Times-Colonist fills in more details: "Contrary to bylaws, the smoke alarm in the top-floor suite was not working, said Victoria Fire inspector Chris Royle. The top-floor suite had heavy smoke damage. Total damage is estimated at $20,000. The other suites are habitable and the tenants have returned home. [...] A long, lightweight extension cord powering a small space heater was found coiled on the carpet with some clothes on top. The heater was always running, putting the cord under a constant load. Royle said an electrical cord coiled and bundled together produces heat, which it can’t dissipate, causing the cord to melt and ignite."

Here's the house in May 2014, though (via Google), still looking fine from outside.

What makes the story so sad is that there was another, much worse fire in February 2015. You can read the whole story here, but basically the fire started in the basement around 10 p.m. and spread quickly; everyone got out, but there wasn't much the firefighters could do. A woman and her son had just moved into the top floor suite, which had just been fixed up after the 2014 fire, earlier that day. (More of their story specifically is in this article--really sad. :( There's also a post-fire interior photo.) The first article says that "The landlord, Tasma Hinch, inspected the damage on Monday, walking past the charred walls and stepping over debris in a state of near-disbelief. Hinch, who has owned the home for the last 40 years, said she expects it will take a year and a half to repair the structure". The fire caused about $600,000 worth of damage, rendering the house completely uninhabitable. One more relevant article is here. A previous tenant mourned the situation on Facebook, saying the house "had a cuteness about it".

Google's photos from May 2015 show signs that work is being done on it, or was; as you can see from my photos (taken just the other day), it doesn't look like much is going on now.

Here are a few more of mine. I love that house next door, a heritage-designated home built in 1906.

You can see where this is on the house in the third photo from the top

I'll be keeping an eye on it to see if the renovations progress, and I'll post an update here if I see that anything's changed.