Description of Historic Place

The Tait Residence Rock Wall is located on the southern perimeter of 902 Foul Bay Road in the City of Victoria, B.C. The site is located at the junction of Foul Bay Road, Quamichan Street, and Redfern Street. It is parallel to, and follows the slope of, Quamichan Street, then turns partially around the corner to face Foul Bay Road.

Heritage Value

The Tait Residence Rock Wall holds social, cultural, historical, and aesthetic value to the City of Victoria.

It reflects the nature of residential estate development in Victoria prior to the time of World War One. It also demonstrates the social and cultural values of wealthy businessmen and women of the early twentieth century - values such as an appreciation of architectural elegance, leisure, and recreation.

The Tait Residence Rock Wall is valued for its historic connection to the Tait Family who originally owned the house that stood on the property. It is also valued as an example of a typical landscape feature from the time. It is seen on estates throughout Victoria to denote the boundaries of private properties. It remains as a tangible reminder of the grand house that once stood on the property.

Aesthetically, the rock wall is valued as a reflection of the Arts and Crafts movement that included informal landscaped gardens. It also symbolized affluence, modern taste, and an affinity for all things British which was a very popular style of the time.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Tait Residence Rock Wall include its:

- location and orientation
- form, scale, and massing as exemplified by its height, width and length
- rubble granite construction with grey raised rope tuckpointing and crenulated top
- two square random ashlar granite gate posts with crenulated caps that stand at each end of the wall facing Quamichan Street
- two square random ashlar granite gate posts with crenulated caps and an iron gate at the end of the wall where it turns to face Foul Bay Road