THE
62
LOG-1959
ROYAL ROADS: YESTERDAY AND TODAY
TH The
whit floo l
rnad
J
and
Pari the afte
GaVI
tate a r whic
gavE
werE
rno il and
rnln Boy,
HATLEY PARK
By C-W I C M . W . Cavanagh and SI C M. Sullivan Rayal Roads is situated in a tree-surrounded re-entrant on the coast line of Vancouver Island . The college laaks out upan a salt-water ancharage from which it takes its name, and across the straits, in the State of Washington, one can, on a very clear day, have an unparalleled view of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains. The name Royal Roads wos originally given to the anchorage in front of the college by a Spanish sailor, Lt. Don Manuel Quimper. In 1780 he crossed these waters to Albert Head and he named them Veldez Bazan, which means Royal Roads. The graunds upon which the college now stands ware purchased originally by the Honourable James Dunsmuir. He had made a fortune in coal mining near Nanaimo and he wanted the property to establish a family estate. The first 路 house on the grounds stood on what is now the parade square, but this house burnt to the ground wh ile the family was in England . When Mr. Dunsmuir returned, he started the construction of the main house, which is known as the castle. He engaged a noted architect, Samuel McClure of Victoria, and at one point in the construction of the building he was reported ta have said, "Money doesn't matter . . . just build what I want."
The original plans for the estate called fo( 232 acres of ground and the cost of construction was to be approximately $300,000. When finally completed, the estate covered 650 acres and cost $1,000,000. At first, Mr. Dunsmuir planned to do the landscaping himself with the help of Mrs. Dunsmuir. Later he relented, but maintained an active interest as nearly 100 Chinese gardeners worked on the grounds to make lawns, gardens, rockeries and arbours from what had been an undisturbed forest . Finally, ready for occupation. in 1909, the estate was functional as well as beautiful. Included in the buildings on the grounds were a model dairy, a large stable, three silos of 100 tons capacity each, a Chinatown for the 100 gardeners, a large refrigeration plant and even a slaughter house and smoke house. To the west of the Japanese Gardens, which contained three privately stocked fishing pools, was a beautiful conservatory fi lied with $75,000 worth of white orchids, and south of Belmont Drive stood a reserve water tank. In the middle of the depress ian, the owner had a large stone fence built around the estate for the fabulous price of $75,000. The castle itself was completed in 1908 and the Dunsmuirs occupied it shortly thereafter. It was sumptuously finished with oak and rase wood panelled rooms and teak floors .
no
the ori col be
dia