Address: 632 Hillside Avenue
Built: 1911
1912 householder: James Robinson, lumber company foremanThis colonial-style bungalow was designed by Victoria architect, Henry P. Stagg. The eight-room dwelling was built for James Robinson, foreman of the Lake-McKinney Company, a wholesale and retail building supply dealer. A building permit for the dwelling was issued to Robinson on 19 May 1911.
The Victoria Heritage Foundation described the original building plans, which are on file at City Hall. The plans show an eight-room frame dwelling, with a bellcast, shingled hipped roof, bellcast hipped front and back dormers, and a side shed dormer. There is a well-defined watertable and belt course. The front entrance portico has a curved foundation and a balustrade with rounded columns. The roof of the portico is pedimented and segmented, having brackets and decorative scrollwork in the pediment. The original glass-panelled front door had side lights. The front windows had large pains with diamond leaded transoms. There are diamond leaded lights in the piano window and in the transom over the centre window of an angled bay in the dining room.
There are box bays on both sides of the house. The main level of the building is clad in wide board bevel siding. The foundation level and the dormers are covered in shingles. The once-open porch has been enclosed and in 2011 the original front facing stairs were removed and replaced with the current side-facing stairs.
Despite the modern renovations, this remains one of the most flamboyant Edwardian-era dwellings in the Burnside Gorge neighbourhood. Its flamboyance is rivalled only by a large home that was built for the president of the Lake-McKinney Company. That home is located close-by at 2531 Government Street.