Description of Historic Place

141 Eberts Street is a wood frame two-storey Second Empire style residence located in Victoria's Fairfield neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

The historic place, built in 1893, is valued for its architecture, its original owner, its former function as a neighbourhood grocery store, and as an illustration of the development of this part of Fairfield as a streetcar suburb.

141 Eberts Street is valued as a rare example of the Second Empire style in Fairfield. The building's distinctive style makes it a local curiosity and landmark.

There is value in the identity of the original owner of the property, Francis H. Ross. Ross, a house painter and decorator born in 1867, was the grandson of Charles Ross, first chief factor of Fort Victoria and his wife Isabella, the first female landowner in Victoria.

There is social value in the use of the building as a grocery store between 1914 and 1926. Then-owner Edmund Sturgeon worked for the British Columbia government while his wife Harriett operated the Ross Bay Store from their home.

The 1909 opening of the #6 Foul Bay streetcar line along nearby May Street to a loop at Fairfield and Foul Bay Roads precipitated development of the streetcar suburbs around Ross Bay Cemetery. The opening of the store coincided with this influx of residents and responded to the need for commercial services in this new neighbourhood.

Source: City of Victoria Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of 141 Eberts Street include:
- characteristics of the Second Empire style, including mansard roof, dormer windows and splayed living room windows
- landmark status