Description of Historic Place

Dunlop House is a two-storey Georgian Revival style house set on a rocky outcrop on the Lansdowne escarpment at the northwest corner of Foul Bay and Lansdowne Roads, overlooking the City of Victoria, in the Shelbourne area of Saanich.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of Dunlop House is associated with its development within its neighbourhood context. Shelbourne is bounded on the east and south by Oak Bay and Victoria, with Mount Tolmie as the major landmark on the east. The area was first developed as farms, which were gradually subdivided for residential and commercial use. The neighbourhood is also home to several large institutional complexes such as St. Michael's University School.

Dunlop House is valued as an example of the work of noted Victoria architect Samuel Maclure (1860-1929), whose architecture made a distinctive mark in the early twentieth century. Maclure had a profound influence on the development of B.C. architecture, and was a leader in establishing a sophisticated local variation of the Arts and Crafts residential design. As one of Maclure's last commissions before his death, this house, while a departure from his earlier trademark Arts and Crafts and Tudor Revival buildings, illustrates Maclure's meticulous attention to detail, and indicates a popular shift towards Period Revival residential designs in the 1920s.

Built in 1928 for James Lyle Dunlop and wife Annie Millicent Dunlop, the design of this house is valued as a sophisticated representation of the Georgian Revival style, with Arts and Crafts details. The front facade features a projecting entrance bay and porch supported by pillars. These central elements are flanked by two projecting bay windows at the first-storey level. A sunroom is situated on the west side of the house over an attached garage. The low-rise hipped roof has bellcast eaves with generous overhangs and modillions. The house blends into its surroundings, enhanced by the terraced garden, with natural rock outcroppings.

The Dunlop House is also valued as a part of the Lansdowne campus of Camosun College. Since 1974, the house has been incorporated as part of the College's Hotel and Restaurant program.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, District of Saanich

Character-Defining Elements

Key features that define the heritage character of the Dunlop House include its:
- prominent location at an important intersection
- form, scale and massing
- symmetrical facade expression
- classically-influenced entrance portico with slender columns and a heavy cornice
- two projecting bay windows flanking the entrance, with six-over-one wood-sash windows flanking the main central windows
- slightly flared hipped roof and bellcast eaves
- decorative modillions under the soffits
- central interior staircase
- millwork such as bookshelves and display cabinets
- interior features such as the oak floors with mahogany inlay, leaded windows and Arts and Crafts fireplaces
- double-sided garage with vertical folding doors, connected to the house
- repetition of the Greek Key symbol throughout the interior and exterior
- situation on a rocky outcrop, surrounded by mature Garry oaks (Quercus garryana)
- terraced gardens with natural rock outcroppings