Description of Historic Place

515 Foul Bay Road, built in 1910, is a 2.5 storey house located in the Gonzales neighbourhood of Victoria, British Columbia. Designed by the notable local architect Samuel Maclure, in the British Arts and Crafts Style, it features numerous box bays, a hipped roof, fieldstone cladding on the foundation.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 515 Foul Bay Rd., lies with its connection to Samuel Maclure who was one of the preeminent architects in British Columbia during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Maclure began working as an architect in 1887 in New Westminster and with his partner, Charles Henry Clow, he designed the Royal Columbian Hospital as well as several residences. In 1892 he moved to Victoria and established a solo practice where he designed the Temple Building, the residence named Ruhebuhne and the BMO Manager's residence in Vernon, BC. He worked with F.M. Rattenbury on the Lieutenant-Governor's home and his greatest achievement came in 1907, when he received the commission to build Hatley Park for James and Laura Dunsmuir.

Built in 1910, 515 Foul Bay marks a transition from Maclure's earlier use of the Prairie and Queen Anne Styles in residential architecture to his use of the British Arts and Crafts Style. With a new partner, Cecil Fox, Maclure emerged as the foremost architect in the province, and from 1905-15 his Vancouver office alone recorded over 60 major commissions. Maclure continued to design splendid buildings and residences until his death in 1929, and his practice closed shortly after due in part to the Great Depression.

515 Foul Bay was built for Edwin M. and Bertha Tracksell who resided there until 1916 or 1917. From 1919 to 1923, the Hon. John Wallace DeBeque Farris and his family lived there. Farris moved to the West Coast to become a city prosecutor and later, a Liberal MLA for Vancouver from 1916-24, the BC Attorney-General and Minister of Labour from 1918-21. In his political career he served as Senator and President of the Canadian Bar Association. Farris' wife, Evelyn, founded the University Women's Club of Vancouver in 1907 and was a member of the senate and board of governors at the University of BC for 30 years. Other past residents included a Minister of Public Works and Railways and a Lieutenant Colonel of the Canadian military.

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that express the heritage value of 515 Foul Bay Rd. include:

- designed by notable local architect Samuel Maclure
- location on original grounds in the Gonzales neighbourhood of Victoria
- form, scale and massing

Key elements that define the heritage character of the building's exterior include:

- projected half-timbered upper storey over stone-clad lower storey
- hipped roof
- open eaves with exposed raftertails
- rubble fieldstone cladding with irregular granite quoins
- two-storey angled bay superimposed on a box bay on the south façade
- two lower level box bays on the south façade
- multi-level balustraded porches
- hipped dormer on north façade
- cantilevered box bay on the north façade
- 6-over-1 double hung sash windows