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Lillian Hoffar Western Red Cedar

10563 McDonald Park Road, North Saanich, British Columbia, V8L, Canada

Formally Recognized: 2005/02/07

Lillian Hoffar Western Red Cedar; District of North Saanich, 2008
General view
Lillian Hoffar Western Red Cedar; District of North Saanich, 2008
Detail of trunk and plaque
No Image

Other Name(s)

n/a

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2009/02/25

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Lillian Hoffar Western Red Cedar is a mature multi-stemmed cedar tree located within Lillian Hoffar Park, a 1.61 hectare municipal waterfront park situated on Tsehum Harbour in North Saanich. Affixed to the tree trunk are commemorative plaques dedicated to the former property owners.

Heritage Value

The Western Red Cedar at Lillian Hoffar Park is valued for its association with and commemoration of the Hoffar family, who willed the surrounding land to the District of North Saanich in 1978. Henry Stonestreet Hoffar, a well-known boat builder, inventor, and engineer, retired to the site in 1943 with his wife Lillian Alice Hoffar, a naturalist who cared for the birds in the surrounding Shoal Harbour Bird Sanctuary. After Lillian’s death in 1971, Henry willed part of his property to the District of North Saanich, with a life tenancy to his daughter, celebrated Vancouver artist Irene Hoffar Reid, whose works are featured in the collections of the Vancouver Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. After Henry's death, Irene moved to the property with her daughter, Catherine Campbell, and her son-in-law, Hugh Campbell. Hugh operated Henry’s boatbuilding shop (‘Winard Wood’) on the property, which was deeded to the District of North Saanich after Irene’s death in 1994. Commemorative plaques attached to the tree trunk are tangible reminders of the Hoffar family's association with the place. The tree was designated as a heritage site by the District of North Saanich in 2005.

The Western Red Cedar at Lillian Hoffar Park is further valued as a good example of the type of tree that dominated the peninsula's natural landscape in pre-European times, and is significant as part of a cultural landscape.

Source: District of North Saanich, Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Western Red Cedar at Lillian Hoffar Park include its:
- location at the north end of Lillian Hoffar Park, on the shore of Tsehum Harbour, overlooking the harbour and Haro Strait
- association with surrounding mature coniferous and deciduous trees
- association with nearby remains of the Hoffar residency, including shoreline concrete retaining wall, breakwater, boat house foundation, remnant garden beds and rough-cut rock wall surrounds, extant introduced fruit tree and perennial plants, and boat launch/marine ways
- commemorative plaques mounted on the tree trunk

Recognition

Jurisdiction

British Columbia

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (BC)

Recognition Statute

Local Government Act, s.967

Recognition Type

Heritage Designation

Recognition Date

2005/02/07

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

1994/01/01 to 1994/01/01

Theme - Category and Type

Peopling the Land
People and the Environment

Function - Category and Type

Current

Environment
Nature Element

Historic

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

n/a

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

District of North Saanich, Planning Department

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

DeRu-181

Status

Published

Related Places

View showing designated Western Red Cedar tree.

Lillian Hoffar Park

Lillian Hoffar Park is a 1.61 hectare municipal waterfront park located on Tsehum Harbour in North Saanich. Situated at the end of a tree-lined lane off McDonald Park Road, the…

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