Captain Jacobson Park

I took one of the little harbour ferries down to West Bay Marina earlier this week and snapped this photo of the Captain Jacobson house. It is located on the shore of West Bay directly adjacent to the small park called Captain Jacobson Park. The house was built in 1893 by a sealing captain who used to anchor his fleet of sealing ships in West Bay. Although the house looks very attractive apparently the Captain preferred to live aboard a paddle-wheeler he beached on the shore below the house. I like the general shape of the house but what really appeals to me is all the intricate gingerbread work - the work of the Captain himself. The house has been undergoing restoration for some years now - you can see a photo I took of it in 2009 HERE.

Carpenter Gothic

This splendid old house was built in 1893 for Victor Jacobson, a successful local sailor who made many voyages to the Bering Sea in search of seal pelts. While he didn't build the house himself he carved all the ornate decorations that adorn it. The house is located in Esquimalt near Westbay Marina. A plaque in the adjacent Jacobson Park identifies the architectural style as "Steamboat Gothic" or "Barbary Coast." Wikipedia suggests that this style is more properly termed "Carpenter Gothic." "Steamboat Gothic" is generally reserved for houses built near the Ohio or Mississippi Rivers and styled to look like the ornately decorated steamboats that used to ply those rivers.