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Karen and Brian Maycock were quite content living in their custom waterfront home when a chance tour of Victoria’s historic residences changed everything. A 1912 Rockland mansion, the work of renowned architect Samuel Maclure, rekindled the couple’s love of restoring old homes and collecting antiques. “We loved the character, the simple functional style—a true reflection of Arts and Crafts style,” Karen says.
Built for the CPR executive H.E. Beasley, the 6,000-square-foot home was a classic “foursquare” design (four rooms on each of two storeys); its welcoming exterior features a low-hipped roof and wide stairs leading to the front veranda, evidence of Frank Lloyd Wright’s influence on Maclure. It’s also a testament to the rich resources of the time: massive first-growth fir and oak timbers, some
20 to 40 feet long, were used throughout.
The venerable house had endured many changes, including a duplex reconfiguration in 1947. “It needed a heck of a lot of work, but you’ve got to have dreams,” says Brian. The Maycocks purchased the house (becoming only the third owners), put their belongings in storage and moved into the dining room to embark on a three-year renovation.
Armed with the original plans, they painstakingly restored period details, from matching paint to having artisans replicate period lighting. (Their attention to detail has earned them an Award of Merit from the Hallmark Society and a Louis Award.) Sanding revealed the original paint colour in the dining room; ironically, the perfect modern match is called Butchart Green, named for the famed gardens Maclure helped design. They tracked down asphaltum, a vintage stain that refreshed walls, floors and ceilings. North American edge-grain, first-growth fir restored woodwork, cabinetry, mouldings, banisters and no fewer than 30 doors. It was also used to restore the staircase to its pre-1947 location off the hall.
The renovations began upstairs, continued down to the main floor, created a new suite in the basement and concluded outside with the patio and the garage restoration. “We got inspired to make big changes and realized it was going to take a lot more time and a lot more money than we thought. Besides,” Brian cracks, “we’re workaholics.”
On the structural side, electric wiring replaced knob-and-tube (an important insurance issue). Floors, hallways and walls were insulated and reinforced. In-floor heating was installed in most rooms, and each stripped and repainted radiator is individually controlled. Add a new roof and three rebuilt chimneys, new sewers and plumbing—not to mention removing, cleaning and
re-glazing all the leaded windows—and, “basically, we have rebuilt this house,” Brian says.
The Maycocks tackled a lot of the dirty work themselves: sanding, refinishing, painting and even hand-excavating an additional 12 inches in the low-ceilinged basement. In the main-floor den, where years of paint, caulking and a faux-wood grain finish had obscured the original fir panelling, two companies turned down the restoration task before Brian took stripper, heat gun, dental pick and lots of steel wool in hand to complete it in four months of evenings and weekends.
The reworked interior is now a contemporary arrangement of two bedrooms and a sitting room, laundry room and two ensuite bathrooms upstairs; den, kitchen, dining, living and powder rooms make up the main floor. The basement is now a stunning three-bedroom, three-bathroom suite with a private entrance. “The layout really works,” says Karen. “Even though the rooms are bigger, it doesn’t feel huge—it just flows.”
The front veranda is one of the couple’s favourite places. Original 12-by-12-inch fir columns grace the 40-foot-long, slate-grey-painted porch, and the glassed-in south end offers protection from the wind. “We sit out here most nights with a glass of wine, even if it’s raining out,” says Karen.
Now that the task is over, the Maycocks look back proudly on their work. “How lucky we are to have a Maclure home,” says Karen. “And the house is lucky that we found it.”
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