Description of Historic Place

97 Cook Street is a one-and-one-half storey front-gabled Craftsman bungalow located on a corner lot opposite Beacon Hill Park in Victoria's Fairfield neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

This historic place, built in 1911, is valued for its architecture, its builder, its unusual construction materials, its original owner, and as an illustration of the pre-World War I building boom in Victoria.

97 Cook Street has value as an excellent example of a Craftsman bungalow. The house illustrates the professional interest of the builder, John Avery, a contractor who pioneered the use of concrete block in home construction. Together with its neighbour one block to the north at 139 Cook Street, it is one of the few early examples of concrete block construction surviving in Victoria. Of special interest are the three different types of concrete block and the contrasting coloured pointing mortar. The same type of concrete block is used in the low garden walls located along the west and north street frontages. Craftsman bungalows expressed pride of craftsmanship, and the attention to detail in this example is remarkable, both inside and out.

The house was built for Captain W. H. Logan, known as one of the best salvage captains in the world. Logan was responsible for the salvage of several notable vessels, including the CPR Steamer Princess May in Alaska, the SS Sesostros off Guatemala, and the SS Kaikyu Maru off the BC coast. In 1911, he was appointed special officer and surveyor in BC for the London Salvage Association, a department of Lloyd's of London. After Logan's death, his widow Elizabeth lived in the house for several years.

Built in 1911, the house is also representative of the boom years during which most of the Fairfield neighbourhood was developed. Victoria's most prolific building phase ended just before the onset of World War I.

Source: City of Victoria Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of 97 Cook Street include:
- characteristics of the Craftsman bungalow style including half-timbered gables with pebble-dashed stucco, shallow cross-gabled bays, slate roof, and overhanging eaves
- the use of three types of concrete block: rusticated for the quoins, smooth for the main level and smaller blocks with red pointing on the plinth
- the use of contrasting coloured pointing mortar
- low concrete wall along west and north street frontages, made from the same blocks as the house
- entrance fittings