Dodd House is one of the oldest still-standing houses in Victoria. Constructed in 1859 by Captain Charles Dodd who came to Vancouver Island in 1836 to work for the Hudson's Bay Company. He started as second mate on the steamship Beaver and rose through the ranks to become Captain of the Beaver in 1845. Dodd was one of the first captains to pilot a ship through Dodd Narrows, which was named in his honour. In 1851, Dodd and his family moved to Victoria. Eight years later Dodd purchased land in Saanich to build his home. However, he didn't get to enjoy his new house for long, dying of a kidney infection in June of 1860. You can find his grave in Pioneer Square.
Originally Dodd House was on a 276 acre parcel of land in Gordon Head which, at the time, was considered the country. In fact, it was the only house in those 276 acres of forest. The interior of the house has 12 foot ceilings that, along with the walls, are lined with redwood boards imported from California.
Following the death of Dodd's wife, Grace, in 1881, the land was subdivided. It continued to be subdivided until the house was only on a small lot. The house was saved from demolition in 1978 by moving it to it's current location in Lambrick Park. The Saanich Heritage Foundation manages Dodd House and to help with costs, the house is rented out to tenants.
Note: The area around the house is in Lambrick Park and available to the public. The area inside the fence is not available to the public as the house is occupied. Do not go beyond the picket fence or enter the driveway. Please respect the privacy of the tenants and do not visit the house at night.
Requirements to log the cache as Found.
You must send me a message with the correct answers to the following questions. Do not post the answers in your log or upload pictures that give away the answers.
According to the information sign located at the south-east corner:
- What is the address of the original location of Dodd House?
- How many children did the Dodds have?
- What year did the house received heritage designation from Saanich?
- What is on the backside of the sign?
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Post with your log, or your message to me, a picture of yourself, or your GPSr or phone, with the Dodd House behind. Please do not include in your picture, the items providing the answers to the above questions.
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.