Description of Historic Place

The Kitchin Residence is a two-and-one-half storey British Arts and Crafts style house built of granite masonry. It sits high atop a hill in the Quadra area of Saanich.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of this house lies in its construction and design. This 1930s house reflects the workmanship and design talent of Arthur Stewart. Noted as one of B.C.'s top contemporary stoneworkers, Stewart made significant masonry contributions to such B.C. landmarks and monuments as the Empress Hotel and the Cenotaph in Vancouver. The construction material of this house is significant, because the granite was quarried on-site by Stewart. The house is an excellent example of the British Arts and Crafts Style of house construction. Its eclectic mixture of design elements and materials make it an exceptional Canadian version of its style. Its beautiful interior included features such as fir and hardwood floors, varnished fir trim throughout, bevelled glass, alcoves for statues, French doors into the huge living room, sunroom, massive kitchen, completely black and white tiled master bathroom, and huge walk-in closets. The surviving interior and exterior features are significant as a representation of a gracious lifestyle of the 1930s.

The heritage value of Kitchin Residence is also associated with its development within its neighbourhood context. Quadra, located directly north of the Victoria-Saanich border, is a large urban neighbourhood created from subdivisions of its early farms. Much of the south part of Quadra was originally W.F. Tolmie's Cloverdale Farm, just one of the large farms in the area cut from the forest by the 1850s. Tolmie was a prominent local surgeon, Hudson's Bay Company officer, politician and major early landowner in this area of Saanich. The Canadian Northern Pacific Railway ran a service from Victoria to Sidney through the area from 1915 to 1935; their spur line ran until 1990, and is now used as a regional trail.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, District of Saanich

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Kitchen Residence include its:
- form, scale and massing
- location atop granite bedrock and boulders
-all granite masonry attributable to Arthur Stewart, including exterior masonry, retaining walls and other complementary structures on the site
- British Arts and Crafts elements, such as arched wooden-sash windows with leaded glass, asymmetrical design, numerous gables, masonry cladding and rolled roof-edges with vented tips along gable ends
- conservatories
- surviving interior features contemporary to the original construction of the house, such as the woodwork and superior craftsmanship