Address: 714 Discovery Street
Built: 1910
Householders: Charles De Long, James Baker, brick and tile manufacturersThe architectural style of this two-storey brick residence, designed by prominent architect C. Elwood Watkins, has been described as “Edwardian Neo-Classic.” Its architectural features are described in volume 3 of the Victoria Heritage Foundation series, This Old House: Victoria's Heritage Neighbourhoods. Notable features of the building include a “2 storey angled bay to the left and a large open porch with solid balustrade to the right with a simple Tuscan column at each front corner and a dentil cornice above. The eaves of the main roof are heavily bracketed and the front corners of the façade are emphasized by quoining….The entrance has a glazed panel in the door as well as leaded sidelights and transom” (p. 20).
The house was built for brick and tile manufacturer James Baker (1854-1929). The Ontario-born manufacturer arrived in Victoria with his family in 1867 and worked at a variety of industries before establishing the Baker Brick and Tile Company in 1891. The company's brickyard and kilns were located on the site of present-day Mayfair Mall, in the 3100 block of Douglas Street near Tolmie Avenue. Several other brickworks were located in the vicinity in the early 1900s. Before moving into this residence, Baker had lived in an adjacent property (now demolished) at 713 Pembroke Avenue.
Baker apparently retired from the company in 1910 and his interests were acquired by Charles De Long. The circumstances of Baker's retirement are unclear and the timing of the event is curious because brickmaking was a very profitable business at this time. In any case, Baker re-engaged with the brick making company from 1920 and 1927. He died on 17 June 1929. An obituary in the Victoria Daily Colonist (27 June 1929) noted that he had been involved with several other business ventures and, at the time of his death, was proprietor of the Victoria Ice Company.
He was twice married. In 1887 he married Clara (née Wagner) Baker, the widow of his older brother, George. That she was forty years old – seven years older than her second husband – was noted by local gossips. Clara Baker died in 1902 and he remarried two years later. His second wife, Helen Marrion, was a book-keeper at the Victoria Ice Company. Local gossips noted that he was 50 years old, while his new bride was only 28 years old. She died in 1972.
James and Clara Baker had a son, James John, who was born in 1889. He was living at this address when the household was enumerated in June 1911. He was 22 years old and his occupation was recorded as "house carpenter." He and eight other men were apparently “lodgers” in the household; and for some unexplained reason, Charles Baker, Senior, was not enumerated here. Rather, 43 year old Charles Thurston De Long is identified as the head of the household.
The census indicates that De Long was born in the United States in 1867, but other records show his birthplace as Prince Edward Island. His wife, Elizabeth (née Lempel) De Long was 40 years old. She may have been born in British Columbia (according to the census) or in Bavaria (according to her marriage certificate.) Their daughter, Lorna De Long, was apparently born in British Columbia in 1903. She was eight years old and had been attending school for eight months when the enumerator called.
The Discovery Street home may have been a temporary residence for the De Long family in 1911, while they were awaiting the completion of a new home on Garbally Road, near the corner of Gorge Road East and Sumas Street. Victoria City Directories indicate that Charles T. De Long, of Baker Brick & Tile Co. Ltd., lived at 508 Garbally Road from 1912 to 1922. The house has since been demolished. Charles De Long died in Vancouver in 1952.
The handsome building at 714 Discovery Street “is now used as a base for Discovery Sports Club and as an office. In the 1990s it was restored to its former grandeur, under the direction of Nigel Banks of Banks Design, and won a Hallmark [Heritage] Society Award” (This Old House, vol. 3, p. 21).