Emily Carr House - Early History

Early History

Built in 1863 for the affluent Carr family,house was originally situated at 44 Carr Street on a large property owned by Emily Carr's father, Richard. The building was designed in an Italianate style by prominent local architects Wright & Saunders, who also built another Victorian National Historic Site, the Fisgard Lighthouse. The area was the heart of 19th century Victoria, with many other merchants, businessmen, and politicians such as the Dunsmuirs living in the area, many of whom commissioned other important buildings, such as Helmcken House. Structurally, the building is an excellent, and well-preserved, heritage example of the Italianate villa style popular at the time.

However, the site is most notable for its association with Emily Carr. Born in 1871, Carr spent much of her life within walking distance of her family home, and the environment left a lasting impression on her which is mentioned in all of her books. In The Book of Small, a young Emily offers a description of Carr street, and her house, as it appeared around 1880:

Our street was called Carr Street after my Father. We had a very nice house and a lovely garden... Carr Street was a very fine street. The dirt road waved up and down and in and out. the horses made it that way, zigzagging the carts and carriages through it. The rest of the street was green grass and wild roses. In front of our place Father had made a gravel walk but after our trees stopped there were just two planks to walk on. As far back as I can remember Father's place was all made and in order. The house was large and well-built, of Californian redwood, the garden prim and carefully tented. Everything about it was extremely English. It was as though Father had buried a tremendous homesickness in this new soil and it had rooted and sprung up English. There were hawthorn hedges, primrose banks, and cow pastures with shrubberies."

Emily lived in the Emily Carr house for most of her childhood, before leaving to pursue artistic training in San Francisco, Paris and London. Her father's death in 1888 left ownership of the farm to her elder sister, Edith Carr, who divided up the estate into lots which were sold off, with the Carr sisters retaining five of them.

Upon her return to Victoria in 1913, Emily built her own house adjacent to Emily Carr House at 646 Simcoe Street. Her time here, including the art school she ran, were immortalized in her book The House of All Sorts — the structure still stands to this day, and contains a mural she painted on the attic roof in the style of First Nations. Her sisters Edith and Alice also built houses surrounding Emily Carr House — Alice Carr House was run as a kindergarten by Alice, and Emily occasionally held art lessons in the building.