For decades, the pirate-themed home dubbed The Swallowed Anchor in Esquimalt has delighted passersby with its quirky folk art -- a perched mermaid, treasure-chest shop and buccaneer keeping lookout in a crow's nest, to name just a few features.
But the fate of the aging home at 464 Head St. is in question. The family of its creator -- the late John Keziere -- handed it over this month to a local businessman who wants to turn the water-view block into a multi-family housing development in the next few years.
Keziere's granddaughter has lived in the home since the old man died in 1999 at age 90. She has been renting the house since it was sold, but moves out at the end of this month.
Mark Lindholm from West Bay Marine Village, who purchased the home last October, said he plans to incorporate the Swallowed Anchor artwork into the design of the development. "The home is in pretty rough shape, but the folk art is great stuff," said Lindholm. "It really adds character to the area."
Until the land is developed, the house will remain empty and be maintained by marina staff, said Lindholm, who knew Keziere. "He was an interesting guy to say the least."
Keziere's daughter Joan Fleischer, who lives in North Vancouver, said her father, who was a carpenter, made the Swallowed Anchor his retirement hobby when he moved to the home in the mid-1970s after his wife died.
"He just loved folk art and anything nautical," she said. "He was always a little eccentric, too."
Keziere had moved to Victoria from Edmonton in the 1930s and took a shine to boats. He had a brother in the Royal Canadian Navy and kept a boat at the foot of Helmcken Road in View Royal, the area where he raised his family.
One of Keziere's more flamboyant acts was climbing into a mermaid costume and rowing himself out to a small island in the Inner Harbour in a dingy for the Swiftsure sailing race each year. "He'd be propped up there waving at boats and everything," she said.
But it was the Swallowed Anchor that was Keziere's pride and joy. "He did all the gingerbread trim and made every one of those figures in his shop -- painted like a treasure chest. Some of them took years to finish," Fleischer said.
Keziere liked to chat with neighbours and tourists who came to see his work, a local attraction that tour buses would cross the bridge from downtown to visit.
Fleischer said her family is grateful to the Esquimalt residents who've supported the Swallowed Anchor over the years.
"We hope the community will continue to enjoy his whimsical art in years to come," she said.
