Address: 3120 Steele Street
Built: 1912
1912 householder: Robert G. Humphreys, carpenter and house painter

This vernacular dwelling is dilapidated and uninhabited, but is still attractive in a forlorn kind of way.* The building has many interesting features, such as cantilevered box bays on the left side of the house (not visible in the photograph), a covered porch with side facing steps, a double-sash window in the upper gable, and a corbelled brick chimney. A series of additions, for a kitchen and laundry tubs, extend from the back of the house. The foundation level is covered in shingles, the main level is clad in double-drop boarding siding, and the roof is covered in old-fashioned duroid shingles. The house sits on a large lot, which nearly backs on to the property at 3117 Delta Street.

Steele Street was built in 1910 to connect Francis Street and Speed Avenue; this was one of the first houses on the new thoroughfare. A building permit for the house was issed to George Holt in 1911. He was a master plumber, who lived nearby on the corner of Speed Avenue and Douglas Street. He was the son of building contractor, William C. Holt, who built the family home at 408 Alpha Terrace. This place -- originally addressed as 581 Steele Street and erected at a cost of $2,500 -- may have been an investment property.

This was the home of Robert G. Humphreys and his family. When they were enumerated here in June 1911, Robert was 29 years old and working as a carpenter. He also worked as a house painter. Born in England, he came to Canada in 1892. His wife, Amelia Humphreys, was 25 years old in 1911 and came to Canada from England in 1903. They spent a few years in the prairies before settling in Victoria with their three children, Irene (11), Helen (5) and Rosa (4). Mrs. Humphrey's widowed mother, 55-year-old Elizabeth Glover, lived with them in this house.

*In 2024, this property was assessed for tax purposes at $697,600. Of this amount, land was assessed at $697,000 and improvements at $600.

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