Old Victoria Custom House

Victoria, Canada

Exterior only

Visible from the street; the inside is private.

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Heritage registerCanadian Register of Historic Places↗

Completed in 1875 in Victoria, British Columbia, the Old Victoria Custom House is a three-storey structure featuring a mansard roof characteristic of the Second Empire style. Designed by Thomas Seaton Scott, who served as the first Chief Architect of the Department of Public Works from 1872 to 1881, the building overlooks Victoria's harbour and represents a relatively plain interpretation of the imposing Second Empire aesthetic favored for such federal structures. Its modest design and materials reflect Victoria's size during that period, when the city was the pre-eminent commercial centre on Canada's West Coast. Also known as the Malahat Building, it was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1987.