Granddaughters of original owner ask for 1896 home on Island Road to be designated heritage to help ensure its preservation

When you look at the gingerbread trim and gabled roof of the cottage at 929 Island Rd. you could be transported back in time.

Built in 1896 by English immigrant Irwin Browne, the house was home to his widow and one of his daughters for decades after Browne was killed in the First World War.

The Englishman had built a similar house next door shortly after the first and sold it the following year to his sister-in-law.

More than a century later, the house at 929 may be designated a heritage house, at the request of two of Browne’s granddaughters.

Betty O’Halloran and Gertrude Fendall are cousins and spent many childhood hours visiting their grandmother and favourite aunt Bette at the house. Both lived just blocks away as girls, and agreed that when their grandmother developed dementia, their cheerful aunt was a draw for them.

“She loved to go for walks, especially during windstorms,” O’Halloran said on a recent tour of the property.

Decades later, when O’Halloran worked as a teacher, her own children would walk to aunt Bette’s after school.

About 26 homes are designated heritage in Oak Bay, while 75 are listed on a heritage registry. Designation is a more permanent form of preservation that is formally recognized by the province. Inclusion on the register is also recognized by the province, but has fewer restrictions on changes that can or cannot be made to a heritage home.

Heritage Oak Bay’s volunteer advisory panel makes recommendations for designation to municipal council. “We didn’t want to see it demolished,” Fendall said about why they applied to designate the house.

It’s the people and the events, like Christmas dinners, the women remember. After their grandmother died in the late 1940s, their aunt hosted large family dinners, especially at Christmas.

“It was a big palaver that went all day,” O’Halloran said.

The large dining room was heated with a small corner wood stove. The house itself was cold, except if you were in the kitchen, which was warmed by a wood stove.

As girls, O’Halloran and Fendall were spooked by the narrow stairway that led upstairs to the bedrooms under the eaves.

After their aunt died in the 1970s, the cousins bought the house from the estate and rented it to tenants. In the 1990s, Fendall briefly lived in the house while contemplating selling her own Oak Bay home, but had second thoughts and moved out. Today the house has tenants again.

In a synopsis of the home in the book Oak Bay’s Heritage Homes, a conservator notes “the houses are very special and a surprise to find in the area.”

Apple and pear trees on the property are gnarled and bent but still produce fruit each year. The original wood-clad garage still functions. The women point to the spot where a grass tennis court was situated at the rear of the property.

“I remember watching people playing and then trying to play as I got older, but I wasn’t any good,” O’Halloran said.

Last week the women received approval from Oak Bay council for their designation application to proceed. A public hearing is set for Oct. 13. If passed, the change will allow the homeowners to apply for grants to help defray the cost of restoration projects.

With four children between them, the women don’t know what will happen to the house after they’re gone.

“It’s up to them, but they’ll figure it out,” O’Halloran said.

vmoreau@saanichnews.com