Description of Historic Place

High Oaks Farm is comprised of a farmhouse, a large barn, and other outbuildings. The house is a two-storey vernacular wood frame farmhouse, with a stuccoed exterior and front gabled roof. The barn has a double-pitched gable roof and is painted with the sign High Oaks Farm and date of establishment, 1892. It is located in the Rural Saanich area of Saanich.

Heritage Value

High Oaks Farm is of heritage value for the people of Saanich as a demonstration of the continuing role of farming in the local economy. The farmland was cleared late in the nineteenth century by James and Margaret Ann Miller, who purchased the property in 1891, and built the house in 1892-3. These buildings constitute a rare survival in Saanich of a complete historic grouping of farmhouse and outbuildings in an active farm setting.

The house is of significant value for its strong cultural association with the pioneers of the area. The house is valued as an early pioneer building and is representative of the type of residence that the early pioneers built when they first arrived. A common vernacular for rural housing, the simple form of the farmhouse demonstrates the pioneer's requirement for functionality, while the decoration indicates their expectation of prosperity.

This site is of historical significance as it has been in the possession of one family since the farm was created. The Millers' only child, Florence Victoria, married Arthur Longland in 1919 and the third generation of the Longland family still own the land and operate the farm.

Source: Saanich Municipal Archives, file 4150 Granville Avenue

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements of the heritage character of the High Oaks Farm include its:
- form, scale, and massing of the house and barn
- exterior elements of the house such as the massive and elaborate brick chimney, fish-scale shingle ornament in the gable end, barge-boards and original wood-sash windows
- exterior elements of the barn, including the wide sweep of the roof, name and date on the wall, placement of windows and doors