Description of Historic Place

The Rowbottom Residence is a large, one and one-half storey Edwardian bungalow located in one of the city's oldest residential neighbourhoods. The historic place includes the house and grounds.

Heritage Value

Built in 1913, the Rowbottom Residence is a superior example of an Edwardian bungalow. This symmetrical building has many Craftsman features including triangular eave brackets, exposed rafter ends on the front dormer and a large, finely detailed wrap-around verandah. The rock wall with stone gateposts and elaborate wrought iron gate, in addition to the mature landscaping, add to the estate-like ambience of this property.

The Rowbottom Residence, part of a grouping of superior heritage buildings, speaks to this neighbourhood's early status as a prestigious residential area. By the beginning of the 20th century, Nanaimo's entrepreneurial and professional classes were moving to areas west and north of the original townsite. This movement was largely spurred by the development of the huge No. 1 Coal Mine in what was once a predominantly residential area on the southern waterfront, but it also reflects a general trend towards single-use neighbourhoods that were increasingly defined by social class and their distance from industrial activity. This neighbourhood, near the brow of a long, gentle hill that rises from the waterfront, was one of a few select areas that emerged as exclusively residential after 1900.

Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Rowbottom Residence include:
-all of the elements of the Craftsman-influenced Edwardian building style as expressed in the symmetrical massing, horizontal lapped wooden siding, multi-paned casement and double-hung wooden sash windows, side gable roof and hip over verandah, wraparound verandah with square columns and arched cutouts between the eave brackets.
- original elaborate wrought iron gate and rock wall and stone fence posts.
-the location of the building within a grouping of superior heritage buildings in one of the city's oldest residential neighbourhoods.