Point Ellice House was the 19th century home of Gold Rush Magistrate and Commissioner PeterPoint Ellice House Gardens O'Reilly, his wife Caroline O'Reilly and their children, Frank, Kathleen, Mary Augusta and Jack. Acquired Point Ellice House in 1867, it was the site of many of Victoria's social elite gatherings. For three generations, it remained in the O'Reilly family, becoming a provincial historic site in 1974. It offers Western Canada's finest collection of Victoriana in its original setting.

Point Ellice House through trees

The best way to arrive at Point Ellice House is by one of the Harbour Ferries that depart from the docks in front of the Empress Hotel and leisurely tours past Victoria's Old Town on the way. Visitors walk up from the dock on the Gorge Waterway in front of the home and onto the lawns where afternoon tea is served throughout the summer season just as it was done a century ago.

The flowers in the luxuriant heritage gardens surrounding this rambling Italianate home accurately reflect the family's notes kept by Kathleen O'Reilly, daughter of Peter and Caroline about their Victorian favourites. All the plantings at Point Ellice and the gardens have been carefully re-established according to these unusually detailed accounts.Point Ellice House interior

 

 

Guests are invited to tour the home as it was in the time of Peter and Caroline O'Reilly, complete with an astonishing variety of actual O'Reilly artifacts throughout the house.

Point Ellice House and Gardens
2616 Pleasant Street
Victoria, B.C. V8T 4V3

Phone: (250) 380-6506