Home > Departments > Community Planning > Heritage Planning > Heritage Register

Heritage Register

The City of Nanaimo's Community Heritage Register was adopted by Council resolution on 2002-Oct-07. The buildings, structures and sites listed on the Register are based on an inventory completed in 1998 and updated in 2001.

The Heritage Register outlines the history and significance of individual buildings, structures and sites. Additional information on individual resources may also be found in the Register files, and in the Nanaimo Heritage Inventory Technical Report. The management recommendations may be found in the City of Nanaimo Heritage Action Plan report. The 1998 inventory and 2001 update add to the scope of several previous inventories that date back over twenty years.

Building Details
Name	Sloan Residence
Address:	255 Stewart Avenue
Architectural Style:	English Cottage
Building Use:	Residential
Year of Construction:	1931
Builder or Architect:	Unknown
Protected Heritage Property:	No

Heritage Value Statement
After making the second largest recorded fortune of the Klondike Gold Rush, William Sloan returned to Nanaimo in 1900, purchased Block 5 and built “Eldovilla”, an elaborate late-Victorian mansion. After his death, the house was demolished. Sloan’s widow, Catherine, built this house in 1931 as a replacement, but eventually moved to Vancouver. The Scales acquired the property in 1933, but later moved to Port Alberni in the 1940s. The next occupant was S.V. Isaacson who moved to Nanaimo in 1943. Isaacson was the Secretary-Treasurer of Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd. The Sloan/Isaacson Residence is an excellent example of the English Cottage Style that was very popular in Nanaimo during the interwar period. Design features representative of this style include the asymmetric floor plans and rolled eave roof treatments, designed to simulate the appearance of thatch. Other notable design features include jerkin-headed and steeply pitched gable roofs and early use of rough stucco siding. The residence is a tangible reminder of the type of housing that predominated in this neighbourhood from it earliest development in the early 1900s to around 1940. Initially developed as an exclusive residential neighbourhood for the city’s middle and upper classes, the neighbourhood is now a mix of commercial buildings, condominium and apartment complexes and single-family dwellings. Surviving earlier residences such as this building are important evidence of the original genteel character of the area. The low stone and concrete fence and cut stone gatepost, the latter a remnant “Eldovilla”, further reinforce the genteel character of an earlier era. Prominently located at the corner of Stewart Avenue and Mt. Benson Street, this residence formed part of a larger concentration of heritage buildings comprising the Newcastle Townsite and is a highly visible neighbourhood landmark. The building is surrounded by mature, sympathetic landscaping which features a row of mature Copper Beech trees located on the adjoining Mt. Benson Street right-of-way.

Heritage Value Statement

After making the second largest recorded fortune of the Klondike Gold Rush, William Sloan returned to Nanaimo in 1900, purchased Block 5 and built “Eldovilla”, an elaborate late-Victorian mansion. After his death, the house was demolished. Sloan’s widow, Catherine, built this house in 1931 as a replacement, but eventually moved to Vancouver. The Scales acquired the property in 1933, but later moved to Port Alberni in the 1940s. The next occupant was S.V. Isaacson who moved to Nanaimo in 1943. Isaacson was the Secretary-Treasurer of Canadian Collieries (Dunsmuir) Ltd.

The Sloan/Isaacson Residence is an excellent example of the English Cottage Style that was very popular in Nanaimo during the interwar period. Design features representative of this style include the asymmetric floor plans and rolled eave roof treatments, designed to simulate the appearance of thatch. Other notable design features include jerkin-headed and steeply pitched gable roofs and early use of rough stucco siding.

The residence is a tangible reminder of the type of housing that predominated in this neighbourhood from it earliest development in the early 1900s to around 1940. Initially developed as an exclusive residential neighbourhood for the city’s middle and upper classes, the neighbourhood is now a mix of commercial buildings, condominium and apartment complexes and single-family dwellings. Surviving earlier residences such as this building are important evidence of the original genteel character of the area. The low stone and concrete fence and cut stone gatepost, the latter a remnant “Eldovilla”, further reinforce the genteel character of an earlier era.

Prominently located at the corner of Stewart Avenue and Mt. Benson Street, this residence formed part of a larger concentration of heritage buildings comprising the Newcastle Townsite and is a highly visible neighbourhood landmark. The building is surrounded by mature, sympathetic landscaping which features a row of mature Copper Beech trees located on the adjoining Mt. Benson Street right-of-way.

Search Again

Go to Top