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History of Four Mile Roadhouse
One of the best known and most picturesque landmarks of
its day in Victoria, Four Mile Roadhouse is the fourth oldest
house in Victoria’s history. The three others at Helmcken
House, Todd Manor and Craigflower Manor (now more than 130
years old). A young Peter Calvert left the heathered hills
of Scotland behind him in 1849, and sailed to Victoria by
way of Cape Horn in the immigrant ship the Norman Morrison.
He came as an indentured servant of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. In return for a free passage he was required to work
for the Company for a period of five years. He then married
a young woman, Miss Elizabeth Montgomery, with whom he had
fallen in love on the voyage from Britain. They moved up the
hill and bought a six-acre parcel of land through which the
original Island Highway ran. Calvert built himself a small
four-room cottage and as the family increased the cottage
grew.
At that early time, the Victoria stage coaches struggled
up the tough Four Mile Hill on the way to Sooke and up island
places. Calvert opened a roadhouse and started a staging service
offering a breather for the horses and a chance for dusty
travellers to quench their thirst. To those local citizens
who patronized his premises he offered polite attention and
first class refreshments. A local remembers that his grandmother
once said, “They used to have a parrot in a tree outside
the Four Mile that would whistle at the horses coming up the
hill and it would call out “Whoa!” and the horses
would stop and turn in”. The reputation of Four Mile
grew but the onset of the First World War and the years of
prohibition put a halt to activity at the House.
In the late 40’s the Four Mile opened as a dine-and
dance place under the banner of The Lantern House Inn –
the Coziest Cabaret on the Coast. The upstairs of the House
contained a notorious brothel frequented by sailors which
was raided by the local police and was eventually shut down.
Not used commercially since the early 50’s Four Mile
stood neglected until 1979 when it was bought by its present
owners, Graham and Wendy Haymes. After extensive renovations
Four Mile Roadhouse has been preserved with the dignity its
age and historic past deserve.
Step back with us
We’re 100 years behind the times....
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