Oak Bay issues temporary protection order blocking removal of 2nd oldest home in the district

VICTORIA -- Oak Bay council has prevented the relocation of an 1880s farmhouse in the seaside community by placing a temporary protection order on the property.

The home sits on a property at the intersection of Hampshire Road and Musgrave Street and is currently on the market for a reported $3.2 million. The current owner of the house wants to relocate it to Metchosin, with further plans to subdivide the property.

“The family is looking to sell the land and one member of the family wants to move the house to live in,” said Oak Bay Mayor Kevin Murdoch. “The house is on the (district’s) Heritage Register, so that request to move the house has to come to council for review.”

The house is thought to be a good example of an early farmhouse constructed in the 1880s. The heritage home is on a 32,000-square-foot lot that was, at one time, part of a 406-acre property owned by John Tod, a factor with the Hudson’s Bay Company. Tod purchased the parcel in 1851.

“We’ve referred it to the heritage commission so they can take a look at it,” said Murdoch. “They’ll give us a more detailed analysis of the heritage merits and the values.”

The home is thought to be the second-oldest home in Oak Bay after the home where the Hudson’s Bay agent lived, known as Tod House.

Council has placed a 60-day protection order on the property to allow the district’s heritage commission time to draft a report on the home's heritage status.

“It's got local and regional significance in terms of it’s heritage context,” said Murdoch. “It's on the Heritage Register but it's not designated, so it dosen’t have any inherent protection.”

Murdoch says what the temporary protection order does is allow Oak Bay to look at designating the home as a heritage property. He says the district can impose protection on the house it it sees there is merit for doing so.

“At this point, we’re just trying to understand the context of that house in the community and on that site,” said Murdoch. “It's got a lot of community heritage when this was all farmland. The current family has lived there for decades and it has a lot of connection for them as a family.”

Oak Bay council expects a report on the property from the district’s Heritage Commission by mid-April. Council expects to make a decision on the heritage status of the house by the end of April.