Fort Vancouver Historic Structures Report

Construction details

a. Dimensions and footings. When scaled out on all versions of the 1845 ground plan by Lieutenant Vavasour, the Priests' House is repre sented as measuring approximately fifty by thirty feet (Plates [VI, [VII, [VIII, vol. I). The 1846-47 inventory of Company property includes "1 Dwelling house, 50 x 30 ft., lined & ceiled," which could only have been the Priests' House because it is the only structure listed with dimensions matching those of the Priests' House as shown by Vavasour and as revealed by archeological excavations. [33]

In 1948 archeologists working under the direction of Mr. Louis R. Caywood uncovered the footings at all four corners of Building No. 16. As reported by Mr. Caywood, "the overall measurements from the outsides of the footings" were 51 by 30-1/2 feet. The map of his excavations, however, shows the dimensions from about the centers of the footings as about 50 by 30-1/2 feet. [34] All things considered, the inventory figures of 50 by 30 feet would seem to be about correct for the outside dimensions of the Priests' House.

The archeologists were not so successful in finding the wall footings in 1948. Eight wooden blocks of "various" shapes, counting the corner footings, were uncovered along the south wall, but only about three or four of them were spaced at the ten-foot intervals usual in Canadian-style construction. The remaining footings may have been disturbed; certainly some of the blocks found were repair footings. On the west wall, in addition to the corner footings, two definite wooden blocks were found, one on each side of a central fireplace foundation; other pieces of wood discovered in this wall may represent fragments of sills or parts of footings. The north and east walls produced few blocks that can definitely be identified as footings in place, but long sections of what apparently were sills were revealed.

All footings were of Douglas fir and badly rotted. They were from two to three inches thick and varied in width from six to eighteen inches. Perhaps the most interesting feature is that they were placed about six inches below the 1830s ground level. Thus if the sills rested directly on the footings, they were partially buried. It seems probable from the 1860 photograph of the Priests' House, however, that the sills were slightly above ground level, in which case they must have rested on blocks of wood that, in turn, rested on the footings (see Plate [LXVI). Additional archeological excavations might throw more light upon this matter.

Two areas of stone, brick, and plaster foundation were also found, one each at the centers of the west and east walls. The foundation on the west was four feet from north to south and about the same distance from west to east, but it was not completely excavated in the latter direction. The foundation in the east wall measured four by five feet, the east-west dimension being the longer. In addition, some scattered loose stones were found along the west wall of the building. [35]

The foundation on the west is known to have been for a fireplace (see Plate [LXVI). Mr. Caywood believed that the one on the east was a platform for a stove. [36] This assumption may be correct, because nothing that can be identified as a chimney can be seen on the east side of the building in the Coode sketch.

b. General construction. Although the written record contains very little information about the physical structure of the Priests' House, the gap, at least as regards the exterior of the building, is quite adequately filled by the excellent views contained in the Coode sketch and the 1860 photograph (Plate [XII, vol. I; Plate [LXVI).

These pictures show the Priests' House to have been of basic Canadian-style construction, weatherboarded in the front only. The building was one story high, and if there was a garret it seems to have been low, with no windows. The roof was hipped and covered with shingles.

In the 1860 photograph the sills appear to rest on the ground toward the south end of the structure but seem to be raised on low blocks toward the rear. Possibly by that date the supporting blocks in front had rotted sufficiently to permit the sills to sag to ground level.

Walls. A Canadian-style building measuring fifty by thirty feet could be expected to have five bays of horizontal infill logs on the long walls and three on the short ones. The spacing of the door and window openings across the front of the Priests' House proves that, beneath the weatherboarding, the wall was of this traditional design. As the 1860 photograph clearly reveals, the west wall also had the expected three bays, but with modifications due to the chimney. The two end bays apparently were slightly smaller than normal--perhaps only 9-1/2 feet or a bit more between the centers of the uprights--while the middle bay was slightly larger.

This middle bay was divided into three approximately equal parts. In the center was the chimney, evidently about three feet wide, flanked on each side by an upright grooved timber. Short, horizontal timbers filled the spaces between these uprights and the regular uprights flanking the center bay.

Apparently the walls rose about 13-1/2 feet from the tops of the sills to the tops of the plates, but architects will be better able to scale the dimensions from the photograph than the writer. The tops of the tall windows seem to have been from nine to ten feet above the sills. The ground-floor ceiling beams must have rested on, or been morticed into, the lintels above the windows, leaving little wall above the beams to form the sides of a garret.

From the photograph, the wall timbers could have been either sawed or hewn. No chinking is visible.

Roof. The design of the hipped roof is perfectly evident from the pictures. The Coode watercolor shows that in 1846-47 the roof was covered with shingles, but larger shingles than those on the Big House. Probably they were hand-split, drawknife-finished shakes of the usual thirty-six-inch length, with perhaps sixteen to twenty-four inches exposed to the weather.

There appear to have been ridge and hip boards in 1860, but the situation in 1845-46 in this regard is unknown. Probably the boards were present. There evidently were no gutters or even drip boards over the doors.

Chimneys. The 1860 photograph reveals the shape and size of the chimney in the west wall quite clearly. What is not so evident, however, is the material of which the chimney is made. As has been seen, the foundation of this chimney was a combination of "stone, brick and plaster." [37] From the photograph, the remainder of the flue may have been constructed of the same materials. What apparently are random-sized stones seem to be visible in the lower portion, while the narrower section above the roof was made of either smaller stones or bricks.

By 1860 the chimney evidently had at one time been painted white or whitewashed. But in 1846-47, as proved by the Coode watercolor, the Priests' House was unpainted, and almost certainly the chimney, though not visible, was likewise without paint.

As is evident from the foundation, there must have been a chimney of some sort on the east wall as well. Because nothing that can be identified positively as a chimney on that side of the building can be observed in the available pictures, it seems impossible to make a valid assumption. If Mr. Caywood was correct in identifying the foundation as the base for a stove, the only chimney may have been a metal stove pipe. Mr. Caywood did not explain his reasons for coming to this conclusion, but perhaps additional archeological studies will provide a mare detailed description of this feature.

Doors. The Emmons ground plan of 1841 (Plate [III, vol. I) shows two entrances to the "Chaplains' or Governors temporary residence," one centered in each of the north and south walls. From the 1860 photo graph it seems most likely that this continued to be the case as long as the building stood.

Unfortunately, the front or south door seems to have been either open or recessed when the camera was trained on it, and thus no con struction details are known. If the writer is correct in his estimates, however, the visible door opening was about nine feet high or even slightly higher. Should such prove to be the case when architects work out the scale for measuring the building, there must have been a transom or light over the door, but it must have been recessed sufficiently to escape the camera's eye. The Coode watercolor (in which the Priests' House is shown as the second building from the right, Plate [XII, vol. I) seems to show a three-pane transom over the front door, but the picture is not sufficiently distinct to permit any certain identification of this feature.

Lacking definite data, it perhaps would be safe to assume that the front door was of the six-panel variety. It is also likely that the rear door was of similar design, with a transom above. There seem to have been two low steps before the front door, the bottom one being somewhat wider than that on tap.

Windows. As can be observed in the 1860 photograph, there were four windows on the front wall of the Priests' House and two on the west wall. Almost surely the same pattern was repeated on the opposite walls.

The design and positioning of the tall casement windows are also evident from the photograph. There were no shutters.

Exterior finish. It is not known if the Priests' House was weatherboarded in front as early as 1845-46. The Coode watercolor is not sufficiently detailed to shed light on this subject.

It is possible that such was the case, both from the standpoint of providing more protection from the prevailing southerly rains and for the sake of appearance, because the Big House, the Priests' House, and the New Office formed the "dress front" on the north side of the fort courtyard. On the other hand, it is almost certain that the front of the Priests' House was not painted at that time, and perhaps it remained unpainted until weatherboards were added at a later date. However, it was not unusual for weatherboarded structures to be left without paint at Hudson's Bay Company posts (see Plate [LXVII). Thus the writer is inclined to suggest that the front of the re constructed Priests' House be covered with weatherboards as shown in the 1860 photograph. The remaining three walls undoubtedly were not weatherboarded.

The original copy of the Coode watercolor in the Hudson's Bay Company archives shows the Priests' House as being dark brown in color, but not as reddish a dark brown as the Old Office. This fact leads to the assumption that as late as 1846-47 the exterior walls of the building remained unpainted. The door and the door and window trim were Spanish brown in color, while the window sash, including that in the transom, was white.

c. Interior finish and arrangement. All that is known for certain about the interior of the Priests' House is that the structure was "lined & ceiled" and that there was a fireplace at the center of the west wall and either a stove or a fireplace (probably the former) at the center of the east wall. Because the structure seems to have been built as the chief factor's temporary residence and as a dwelling for officers and important guests, it is probable that the interior finish was about the same as that of the Big House--unpainted vertical board paneling, chair rails, and planed floors.

The fireplaces, if indeed there were more than one, were most likely of the French-Canadian type illustrated in Plates XLIII and XLIV. The stove, if there was one, undoubtedly was a "Canadian stove," either single or double, and was probably made by Carron.

It is probable that access to the garret was through a trapdoor accessible by a ladder brought in when the occasion demanded. Garrets of the type found in the Priests' House were used by the Company for the seasoning of lumber and similar purposes.

As far as is known at present, there is no information whatever available concerning the interior room arrangement. It is scarcely likely, however, that a dwelling of fifty by thirty feet would have been designed as quarters for a single family. It seems most likely, then, that the interior was divided into at least two suites, each consisting of a sitting/dining room and two bedrooms.

One of many possible room arrangements to provide such accommodations might consist of a narrow hall extending through the building from front to rear doors. On each side of this hall there might be, in front, a sitting room of about twenty-two by sixteen feet, off of which, in the rear, open two small bedrooms. In this case the fireplaces or fireplace and stove would be in corners. Evidently the "house of the gentleman in charge" at York Factory during the 1830s was arranged on a somewhat similar pattern. [38]