1329 St. Patrick Street

The one and one-half storey Cotswold Cottage style home at the corner of St Patrick Street and Brighton Avenue is on a large lot with extensive gardens in Oak Bay, B.C. The stucco clad house with an asymmetrical cross gabled steeply pitched roof is surrounded by shrubbery.

1329 St. Patrick Street has aesthetic and historic value for its 'storybook' architectural style, its extensive gardens and its connection to post-World War I building style changes.

Built in 1939, the house has historic value as a good example of the 'storybook' homes built for middle class families moving to the suburbs in the decades following World War I, a time of traditionalism and picturesque home building. The building style expressed a romantic, cozy domestic ideal based on efficient smaller houses that recognized economic constraints and the reality that most families didn't have domestic help. The basement entry garage reflected the increased importance and proliferation of the automobile. The popularity of this architectural style declined at the beginning of World War II.

The cross gabled home has aesthetic value for the retention of its original form and massing, and exterior finishes. Its roofline is prominent at this corner. It was built within a cluster of pre-World War II homes as an infill on the former tennis court of neighbouring home at 1369 St Patrick Street.

The corner lot in an area of large Garry Oak trees and wide boulevards also has aesthetic value for its extensive gardens and large area of green space reflecting Oak Bay's development as a garden suburb. The gardens spill onto the municipal boulevard and add to the rural aspect of the adjacent Centennial Trail. The home itself, with distinctive peaked roof and a moderate footprint on a larger lot, adds to the ambiance of the streetscape and neighbourhood.

SOURCE: The Corporation of the District of Oak Bay Planning Department

The character defining elements of 1329 St Patrick Street include its:

-location on a corner lot, open to well treed streets

-Perimeter trellising and extensive gardens including planting on the Brighton Avenue boulevard

-Generous side setbacks with gardens, greenhouse, raised beds, and mixed shrub borders

-Garage door entry to the basement level

-Original casement windows, exterior stucco, multi peaked roof, curved half timbering on two gables, arched front entrance, v joint door and hardware

-Interior features include original fireplace, wood floors, doors, hardware and moldings

-House colours blend with garden colours