Canada Guide
Vancouver Island
Craigflower Manor
Opening time: May– Oct daily 10am–5pm
Price: $5
Telephone: 250/387-4697
Address: Admiral's Rd
In its day, Craigflower Manor and Farmhouse, about 9km and fifteen minutes' drive from downtown, was among the earliest of Victoria's farming homesteads, marking the town's transition from trading post to permanent community. It was built in a mock-Georgian style in 1856, apparently from timbers salvaged from the first four farmhouses built in the region. Its owner was Kenneth McKenzie, a Hudson's Bay Company bailiff, who recruited fellow Scottish settlers to form a farming community on Portage Inlet. The house was to remind him of Scotland, and soon became the foremost social centre in the fledgling village – mainly visited by officers because McKenzie's daughters were virtually the only white women on the island. As with Point Ellice House, reservations for tea are recommended. Take bus #14-Craigflower from downtown.