Situated on a large corner property at the junction of Runnymede Place and Runnymede Avenue, this one-and-one-half storey Tudor Revival residence has three prominent wall dormers on the main façade and a distinguishing central brick chimney. The half storey is clad in stucco with half-timbering and strapwork.
Heritage Value
The Arthur H. Piggott House is an important component of the Runnymede cluster of contemporaneous heritage homes, and it provides a significant demonstration of the social, cultural, and economic history of the area. The houses in this cluster are on land formerly owned by the Pemberton family, descendants of Joseph Despard Pemberton, first Surveyor General of the colony of Vancouver Island, and adjacent to Frederic Pemberton family home, ‘Mountjoy’.
They were all designed by prominent architects, many having a similar architectural vocabulary – British Arts and Crafts; and were commissioned by affluent professional clients. This house was commissioned by Arthur H. Piggott, managing director of the Victoria and Vancouver Stevedoring Company; built in 1910, it is one of the 1,500 houses built in Oak Bay between 1910 and 1913 at a time when Oak Bay was undergoing a period of rapid development. Unlike many of the large houses in the area which have been converted to suites as a result of the changing needs of families, and the rising price of real estate in the area, this has remained a single family dwelling.
This site is valued as an excellent example of Tudor Revival architecture, a popular residential style in the early part of the twentieth century, particularly in Oak Bay. With its picturesque elevations punctuated by box, and angled bay windows, stucco with mixture of half-timbering and strapwork on the half storey, shingles on the first storey, massive chimney, jetties, and gables on all façades, this house displays the classic elements of the Tudor Revival style.
The heritage value of the Arthur Piggott House is its association with its architect, William D’Oyley Hamilton Rochfort (1884–1943),who was Arthur Piggott’s brother-in-law; and with Percy Leonard James who made later alterations. With no formal architectural training, Rochfort arrived in Victoria from England in 1903 and was hired for his natural artistic ability as an apprentice to Samuel Maclure, by whom he was heavily influenced. Many of his residences are in the Tudor Revival style, or with Tudor Revival ornamentation. Percy Leonard James (1878-1970) was one of the English trained architects who profoundly influenced the direction of residential design in Victoria; in the late 1930s he added dormers to the south elevation and reduced the eaves depth. James had been retained by the Municipality of Oak Bay for a federal housing initiative for returning veterans that was incorporated into the BC Better Housing Act of 1919, he designed the first Municipal Hall, and in 1938 he designed the Oak Bay Fire Hall.
Character Defining Elements
- corner location, visual termination north of Mountjoy Avenue
- residential setback
- form, scale and massing
- gabled roof with multiple side gables
- wood frame construction and rubble-stone foundation
- style details such as: various cladding materials including shingles, stucco, decorative timbering; wide barge-boards; drop finials
- exterior architectural elements such as: external chimney with corbelled brick chimney-stack, angled and square bays, multi-pane front door with side lights
- fenestration, and window types such as including: 12 over 1 double-hung sashes; multi-paned casement; triple-assembly fixed windows with stained-glass
- original interior features such as: woodwork, fireplaces, tiles, built-in cabinets
- landscape features including: large mature coniferous and deciduous trees and shrubs; original garage, brick paths