In 1862, Wentworth Villa rose above Victoria’s oak‑filled hills—a Carpenter Gothic show‑stopper that now tells its story as a heritage museum.
BY JOANNE SASVARI | PHOTO JEFFREY BOSDET
Back in 1862, Victoria was a small town, home to about 3,600 people (according to the 1871 census), and their homes were for the most part plain and simply built.
The Wentworth Villa was not.
The home of the seafaring Hudson’s Bay Company Captain Henry Bailey Ella, his wife Martha and their seven children, it stood on a hill 20 minutes’ walk from town, at what is now 1156 Fort Street. Back then, it was surrounded by Garry oak meadows and had sweeping views across the growing community. But what made it really stand out was the ornate fretwork around the edges of the peaked roof, emblematic of a style that would come to be known as Carpenter Gothic.
This North American architectural style was an offshoot of the medieval-inspired Gothic Revival movement so popular in England. But while the structures featured similar elements, such as pointed arches and steep gables, what made Carpenter Gothic unique was that instead of stone, builders used timber; instead of cathedrals and universities, they designed mostly homes and small churches; and instead of sombre medieval motifs, they used newfangled scroll saws to create the charming ornamentation that became known as gingerbread.
It’s believed that the villa, with its 14 rooms, nine fireplaces, pierced bargeboards, centred front door and steeply pitched roofs, was designed by John Wright and George H. Sanders, the first professionally practising architects in Victoria, who also designed Emily Carr House and Point Ellice House. (They later moved to San Francisco, where most of their buildings were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.)
In the 160-plus years since Wentworth Villa was built, it has been a home and an antique store and briefly fell into the hands of a developer. After a significant restoration, it is now home to Wentworth Villa Architectural Heritage Museum, which preserves the kind of vintage architectural styles — like Carpenter Gothic — that add so much charm to our city.
