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Today Craigflower is the third oldest house in British Columbia, after Tod house and Helmcken house. As well, it is still one of the few examples of Georgian architecture in Victoria, because the colony was established during the Victorian era, rather than the earlier Georgian architectural style, which was more prevalent in Eastern Canada. During 2006, the150th Anniversary of Craigflower Manor, there were celebrations, including a large commemorative event with a plaque unveiling on May 6th 2006. It must be noted that Craigflower is the most significant remaining example of Hudson's Bay Company agricultural settlement in Canada.

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Craigflower at 150 years old, 2006
24 June 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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Craigflower's 150th Celebration
5 May 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


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150th Anniversary Plaque
6 May 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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The unveiling of the plaque for the sesquicentenary of Craigflower Manor
6 May 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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Many local people will have noticed that Craigflower received a new coat of paint in 2006, returning the external appearance of the building to its original olive green and off-white colours of 150 years ago. This face lift was accomplished through some intensive paint archaeology and painstaking research into the original building colours in archival photographs and historic documents. Robert Burnaby, commented on the whitewash exterior and green trim of the farm buildings in his letter of August 6th, 1860, where he describes the farm looking out from a Manor window. In an excerpt from this letter, Burnaby describes the paint scheme of the farm buildings as follows: "a little to the left the labourers cottages all of wood, the doors picked out with green all the rest whitewashed" (Land of Promise, 148). McKenzie used the same paint colours on the Manor as on the rest the farm buildings.

When the original restoration was done in 1967 there was not much time to determine the actual colours of the exterior, and so it was only in 2006 that the time was available to go through the layers on the Manor exterior and find the original colours. Under a microscope it was decided that the original first paint layer of trim was an olive green. This method of analyzing paint layers closely resembles the method used in the Manor in the 1960s to determine the original wall paper patterns.

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Front of Craigflower Manor painted red
21st Century, circa 2003
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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Richard Linzey discusses the 2006 restorations to Craigflower Manor
21st Century, 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada
TEXT ATTACHMENT


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Original window paint colour up close
13 May 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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Craigflower being painted
29 April 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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Back of the Manor being painted
6 May 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada


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Up close picture of Craigflower as the paint layers were being peeled
1 May 2006
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada


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On July 22nd 2006 Craigflower hosted a Community Celtic Festival to celebrate the Scottish roots of the farm, and to have a more informal festive celebration for its 150th anniversary. Despite the excessively warm weather on the day of this event, it was well attended. Musicians such as Tiller's Folly and Daniel Lapp as well as heritage games and demonstrations made it a very enjoyable day, and reinforced the important role that Craigflower still has to the community as a whole.

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Celtic Festival, summer 2006
22 July 2006
Craigflower, View Royal, Victoria, Canada