Description of Historic Place

The Gilbert House consists of a two-storey Queen Anne style house and shed located in the Poets Corner neighbourhood of Oak Bay.

Heritage Value

The Gilbert House is valued as an important part of the social development and architectural history of Oak Bay. One of the ten oldest structures in the District, this house was built in 1893 for Mr. Frederick William Gilbert and his wife Mrs. Jane Gilbert. It is an example of a home built for one of Victoria's working class families. Gilbert's occupation was listed as a sealer and later as a master mariner.

Its value also lies in its location within one of Oak Bay's earliest residential developments. Part of a cluster of working class homes stimulated by the City of Victoria's suburban expansion in the 1890s, this house is located in the Poets Corner neighbourhood, on the border between Oak Bay and Victoria. The construction of working class houses in this area during the 1890s "mostly on affordable property" was also in response to the extension of the Tramway Company's streetcar line from Victoria to Oak Bay.

This home is historically as well as architecturally important to the community, as one of two Queen Anne homes on Byron Street, built before the 1906 incorporation of the District of Oak Bay.

Source: The Corporation of the District of Oak Bay.

Character-Defining Elements

The key elements that define the heritage value of the Gilbert House:
- Queen Anne style typified by the tall and asymmetrical facade, the dominant front facing gable, and the porch with its columns placed at the front facing corner with two doors.
- Cross-gable dormer roof and front projecting bay window with a front dormer.
- Drop siding with shingles at its gable end.
- Intact exterior fir detailing, woodwork and windows.
- Authentic interior detailing, such as the fir flooring, staircase, original tile work around the fireplace with the cast iron insert and original fireplace mantel in the dining room.
- Mature trees, such as the Yew tree.