Description of Historic Place

Rogers' Chocolates is a two-storey Queen Anne Style brick commercial building on Government Street.

Heritage Value

Rogers' Chocolates is valued as the home of one of Victoria's longest lived and still prominent businesses. Commissioned by chocolatier and businessman Charles W. Rogers, and completed in 1903, it is notable that Rogers' Chocolates (est. 1885) has conducted business from this shop since 1917. Designed by architects Thomas Hooper and John Teague, the value of this building lies in its careful combination of formal Queen Anne exterior elements with intimate Art Nouveau interior design, and its juxtaposition with other buildings of similar modest scale.

This building has a significant relationship with the two buildings immediately to the south, because together these three separate structures were designed to appear as a cohesive unit, with the outer two acting as almost identical bookends to a slightly larger central building. Rogers' Chocolates contributes to the continuity of the historic streetscape in this area, recalling the time when Government Street was the main retail artery of the city, active with the commerce of banks, restaurants, and numerous small shops such as this one.

Source: City of Victoria Planning and Development Department

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of Rogers' Chocolates include:
-the scale and two-storey massing of the building, which contribute to the turn-of-the-twentieth-century streetscape;
-the relationship of the building with the two buildings immediately to the south;
-the Queen Anne Style elements such as the cornice with dentil moulding and decorative pilasters;
-the Art Nouveau interior elements including cast iron, leaded glass, mosaic-tiled floor, wood panelling, light fixtures, wood and glass display cases, and marble detailing;
-intact store front display windows and door at street level;
-identification of the building with the Rogers name as seen in the inscription beneath the cornice.