Cranberry Avenue Residence

The Cranberry Avenue Residence is a large, one and one half storey, Edwardian era building located on a large lot in the Chase River neighbourhood, approximately three miles south of Nanaimo's downtown core. The historic place is confined to the building footprint.

Built about 1912, the Cranberry Avenue Residence is a very good example of the type of farmhouse that was commonly built during the Edwardian era in the rural areas surrounding Nanaimo. The building's solid, symmetrical and substantial appearance and minimal decoration reflects the era's move away from the ornamental excesses of Victorian times.

The Cranberry Avenue Residence is significant as a rare early remaining building in Chase River, an area that originally developed south of Nanaimo as a separate mining and small-scale farming community in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. As Nanaimo grew, the physical distinction between Chase River and Nanaimo blurred. Today, the Chase River area is a mix of commercial and residential buildings, but surviving early farmhouses such as this residence, typically sited on large lots, are evidence of the original rural character of the area.

Source: City of Nanaimo, Development Services Department

The character-defining elements of the Cranberry Avenue Residence include:

- all of the elements of an Edwardian era farmhouse, as expressed in the square plan, cross-gabled roofline with tall gables capping each facade, full open front verandah with square columns, horizontal twin beveled wooden siding, double hung wooden sash windows, shingle insets in gable ends, stained glass transoms in the living room window and original front door with oval glass inset.

- the building's location on a large lot in an area outside the central city.