647 St. Patrick Street

The historic place is a one and one half storey small, front gabled 'English Tudor' cottage with basement located on a single lot near Central Avenue and St Patrick Street, and one block north of McNeill Bay, in Oak Bay, B.C.

Built in 1935, 647 St. Patrick Street has historic and aesthetic value as a fine example of homes built for middle class families moving to the suburbs, as was the trend across North America in the 1930s. These small, approximately 1000 ft2 maximum one and one half storey homes on small lots were designed for young families with steady but modest incomes. They often had front entry basement garages, reflecting the increasing importance and proliferation of the automobile. The house has historic and aesthetic value for the look, feel and character it adds to the streetscape and neighbourhood.

The house has historic value as a good example of the early work of contractor H. Cowper - in partnership with Hirst Realty who also commissioned 657 St Patrick Street in 1935. Cowper is a significant local figure for having built over 30 houses in Oak Bay between 1931 and 1947.

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

The character defining elements of 647 St Patrick Street include its:

- location of the house in a row of homes of similar modest size, open to the well treed street creating a welcoming human scaled streetscape.

- Small scale and mass (maximum 1 1/2 storeys) apparent to the street

- Garage door entry to lower (basement) level off street

- Large front windows each comprised of three sections (large centre section, '6 over 1' flanked by smaller '3 over 1' sections)

- Direct front entry via steps up to a small stoop

- Painted stucco finish

- Sharply peaked front facing gables

- Corbels supporting a curved overhang above the front door