A historic house once proposed for demolition is now pitched for renovation.
Mike Miller hopes to rejuvenate J.W. Morris House at 1558 Beach Dr., restoring the 1912 mansion to some of its former glory while adding to the housing options available on the site.
Currently divided into seven units, Miller plans to create 10 within the historic home, restore the garage and add a single-family home adjacent to it, and build two single-family homes off Beach Drive.
Some parts of the existing home are in dire need of repair, with piecemeal additions and renovations over the decades diminishing the heritage character and design of the house.
“There are a significant amount of improvements going to be done,” Miller said.
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About 70 people attended an April public open house with a team in attendance from design to heritage consultants, with a fairly supportive response from Miller’s perspective.
“We ticked a lot of boxes,” he said.
Along with the heritage home and garage remaining, positives include providing all parking on site, adding to the local housing market, revitalization of the boulevard on Prospect Place and keeping all protected trees.
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His team plans to save and restore the house in the context of modern codes and market expectations. The home lies within the Prospect Neighbourhood Heritage Conservation Area which applies to the exterior of homes and structures in the neighbourhood over 10 square metres, and to a series of landscape and yard features such as non-permeable pavement and rock walls.
The next step is submission of a formal application for a Heritage Revitalization Agreement which could happen as soon as this week, or this month, Miller said.
“We fully expect a collaborative process,” he said. “We expect this project to evolve over the next months.”
Learn more about the proposal online at jwmorrishouse.com.
Follow the Oak Bay development tracker at oakbay.ca.
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christine.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca
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