ONE OF VICTORIA’S BEST HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS! Discover stories from the city’s past through its architecture. Enter the Villa and immerse yourself in a unique heritage building as you learn about the architects and families who laid the groundwork for the city we know today.
ONE OF VICTORIA’S BEST HISTORIC ATTRACTIONS! Discover stories from the city’s past through its architecture. Enter the Villa and immerse yourself in a unique heritage building as you learn about the architects and families who laid the groundwork for the city we know today.
Wentworth Villa
Attributed to local architects Wright and Sanders, Wentworth Villa is a landmark heritage house in Victoria. With only two families occupying the house from the time it was first built in 1863, relatively little has changed with the structure since that time. Today, the Villa continues to showcase its beautiful Carpenter Gothic elements after extensive restorations that have maintained the architectural details as close to their original state as possible.
Continue to explore our website to learn more about Wentworth Villa and what the museum has to offer, or visit today to see it all first hand!
EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS
Gothic Victoria
– ON VIEW UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2025 –
Our new feature exhibit explores the origins and local expressions of Carpenter Gothic architecture. With roots in the medieval period of almost 1000 years ago, this is a truly historic architectural style! Learn about the innovations in church design and construction that allowed for buildings of unprecedented scale and grandeur, and how these innovations were embraced and revived around the world in more recent times. Finally, see how these building techniques were applied to small scale wooden structures in the cities and on the frontiers of European settlement in North America, including right here in Victoria where Wentworth Villa itself provides a prime example. The result is a legacy of built heritage that is one of the most recognizable and widespread styles in the world today.
Francis Rattenbury
Francis Rattenbury (1867-1935) did more than any other single architect to design the look and feel of Victoria as we know it today. Recognized primarily for his work on the BC Legislature, Empress Hotel, and CPR Steamship terminal buildings which continue define city’s waterfront, this exhibit also considers the more personal side of his life and career. Organized around a scale model of the architect’s own self-designed home in Oak Bay, visitors get a glimpse into his domestic life there which, despite appearances, was far from idyllic. His tempestuous personality, scandalous dealings, and ultimate violent end add a sense of tragedy to the life story of this truly monumental figure.
Garden City
Victoria has a colourful and fascinating architectural history. Richly illustrated with archival photographs and historic artwork, Garden City: Designing Victoria provides an introduction to this history. The exhibit shows how early settlers interacted with the local Songhees First Nations people to establish themselves in the region, and how this eventually led to the globally connected modern city we see today
Events
A keynote presentation by architectural writer and critic Trevor Boddy titled "Why Arthur Erickson Matters”
Hallmark Heritage Society and B.C. architectural historian Jim Wolf will present a lecture about the secrets of Sam Maclure’s success.
Experience some well-loved familiar, and less familiar Christmas choral music performed by an ensemble of eight exciting, young professional singers!
Celebrate the New Year with prize-winning concert pianist Shoko Inoue. Shoko returns to Wentworth Villa with a program of Faure, Mozart, and the great Liszt Sonata in B minor.