Description of Historic Place

1003 Vancouver Street is a two-and-a-half storey wood frame picturesque Italianate villa located on a prominent corner lot in Victoria's Fairfield neighbourhood.

Heritage Value

1003 Vancouver Street, built in 1885, is valued for its architecture, its architect, its original owner, and how his actions reflected the social conscience of late-nineteenth-century Victoria.

1003 Vancouver Street has architectural value as a well-maintained example of an Italianate villa. The Italianate styling reflects the architectural tastes of the late-nineteenth-century, and this example is an expression of the taste of the emerging business class. The corner location affords an opportunity for additional decorative elements on the south elevation.

The property is also valued as an example of residential architecture by architect John Teague, better known for larger institutional commissions in the city, such as Victoria City Hall, the Church of Our Lord, and the Masonic Temple. That he was most comfortable with the Italianate idiom in residential architecture is evident both in this example and his larger commissions for Victoria's elite.

There is social value in the association with the original owner of the home. Arriving in Victoria in 1862, the year Victoria City was incorporated, Charles Hayward began his working career as a carpenter, secured the contract to construct the Church of Our Lord for his good friend Bishop Cridge, then went into the coffin business, forming the funeral company that bears his name to this day. He entered municipal politics in 1873, serving on the school board for twenty-five years (ten years as chair), and Mayor from 1900-1902. His son Reginald was also Mayor (1922-24) - the only father and son Mayors in Victoria history. He also served on the boards of the Royal Jubilee Hospital and the B.C. Protestant Orphanage. Like many of his contemporaries, mostly of British extraction, Hayward took his social obligations seriously. Isolated in a far-flung corner of the British Empire, this group pulled together to ensure the physical and mental well-being of the less fortunate by endowing and serving on the boards of charitable organizations.

Source: City of Victoria Planning Department

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage character of 1003 Vancouver Street is defined by the following elements:
- characteristics of the picturesque Italianate villa style, including prominent entrance with wood stairs, wooden arcaded porch, shallow roof, deeply overhanging eaves with decorative ornamental brackets, bay windows, decorative bargeboards, corner quoins, and decorative metalwork
- corner location