Start Filling Up (At) The English Inn
July 7, 2010 by Hedonista · Leave a Comment
A dear Vic friend took your Hedonista out for dinner at a “new place” the weekend before last.
The English Inn is a turn-of-the-century jewel worth the trek to Esquimalt.
Talk about a jewel that’s not being discovered nearly enough – the English Inn – a boutique hotel with heritage-quality that makes it a popular wedding venue (apparently elopements are welcome, too). Located in Esquimalt, the English Inn prompts you to “Escape to the countryside, without leaving the city.”
And they mean it, too. Complete with nearly five acres of Sunken Gardens, and an Elizabethan-stylized village complete with outbuildings that include replicas of an entire Elizabethan street, Tudor-style manor houses, Shakespeare’s birth home, and Anne Hathaway’s cottage (which admittedly has seen better days), this place is an anglophile’s paradise.
Not planning on attending any nuptials any time soon (be is yours or as a guest)? No matter – for they have the “rosemeade dining room” and “lounge” you can haunt. It seems that the English Inn manor – originally constructed in 1906 – is getting a facelift and transitioning from “turn of the century” to “urban chic.” Now called the “english inn and resort” (just like the dining room and lounge, these words are all in lower case on the signage close to the inn, as opposed to the more traditional capitalization on the roadside signage), it seems that the English Inn & Resort is attempting to attract the 20- and 30-something crowd. For, if they can’t move their Esquimalt locale to the Inner Harbour, why not hip it up a bit?
The modern chic interior design seems an odd foreign anachronism with the impressive splendo(u)r of the Edwardian-Tudor Revival manor.
Why not, indeed. Their le nouveau décor modern seems to be the wrong angle – for nothing’s broke with the English Inn and thus nothing needs fixing; sure, the “Elizabethan World” is kitschy, but that’s part of its anachronistic charm (although Anne Hathaway’s cottage could use a good re-thatch). The property – in particularly the inn itself, in which the dining room and lounge are located, is absolutely turn-of-the-century gorgeous. All it needs is some aggressive marketing (Victoria, not Esquimalt-style).
(Hopefully this review helps.)
The English Inn is of the Edwardian half-timbered style and was originally called the “Rosemeade.” Designed by Samuel McClure (Vic’s most renowned residential architect and a none-time Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Company telegrapher), it was built in 1906 for Thomas Harry Slater – a Yorkshire-born realtor and developer who imported artisans from England and Scotland to construct his estate. From 1917-1933, this estate had numerous prestigious occupants, including Conservative Senator (later Sir James) Lougheed. In 1933 – the year of the death of its original owner, Thomas Harry Slater – the Rosemeade was acquired by Thomas Arthur and Marguerite Rickard. During WWII it was used for the naval officers (Esquimalt being Navy central) and dubbed “Stag Holm.” In 1947 it was re-branded as the Olde England Inne on Lampson Street. (The street name apparently came from the Lady Lampson, a ship that once moored in the nearby Esquimalt Harbour; the real Lady Jane Lampson was married to Sir Curtis Miranda Lampson, a deputy governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company and an advocate of the trans-Atlantic telegraph cable.) The kitsch arrived with later owners in the form of Mrs. Rosina Lane and her hubby Sam, who created the aforementioned “Elizabethan World.”
Today, this property is owned by LFC Lampson Hospitality Corp, a Vancouver, B.C. investment group.
The lamb, gnocchi, mushroom and broth = pure Elizabethan era (not to mention Edwardian era) comfort food.
The menu is your standard West Coast gourmet fare with a focus on sourcing, cooking, and eating local. The one-page menu offers everything from meat and macaroni to seafood and spätzle (also spelled spaetzle). Their lamb shank ($19 CDN), situated on a bed of squash gnocchi that floats (well, rests) on a sea of mushroom broth – melted in the mouth. The char ($24 CDN), perched on a mountain of spaetzle and roasted sunchokes and bookended with orange and fennel – was also deliciously satisfying in presentation, taste, and price point. (For one can easily spend several dollars more for the same meal closer to a given city’s financial district.)
But here, waaay out in the country, you can really get your money’s worth. The also have rooms for $99-$219 CDN a night range, depending on room and season. (Check out their photo gallery.)
So travel the less than 3 kilometres (under 2 miles) from Vic’s Inner Harbo(u)r, treat yourself to a high-end meal at a mid-range price, then work it off with a stroll of the grounds.
Trust me, you’ll be glad you started filling this place up,as it’s truly a piece of aesthetic history worth keeping around.
