Victoria property where fire destroyed heritage house goes on sale for $2.88M
A half-acre lot at the corner of Foul Bay Road and Quamichan Street, where a massive fire destroyed a heritage house in 2016, is on the market for $2.88 million.
Currently zoned for a single-family use, real estate agent Mark Rice sees it as a development opportunity, possibly for townhouses.
“It is hard to find a site like this,” he said.
The remains of the old house are gone from the fenced site at 902 Foul Bay Rd.
Stones from a partially dismantled rock wall have been saved so that it could be rebuilt, he said. There are also two heritage trees on the site.
The property was listed last week and several developers have already been in touch, Rice said.
Lions West Homes, of Victoria, bought the property in August 2017.
On Jan. 25, 2016, fire swept through the rundown 1911 Arts and Crafts heritage house, then owned by local developer Large and Co., which bought it in 2014.
The company failed to win City of Victoria approval to redevelop — despite the house’s condition — because of its heritage status.
At one time, it had been home to about 100 cats and had been contaminated with mould, feces and urine. It was boarded up at the time of the fire. Developer Earl Large said in 2016 that he believed squatters were responsible for the blaze.
The two-storey house was built for lawyer David S. Tait. Its heritage designation covered the home’s exterior, some of its interior features, the trees, a stone wall and an iron gate.