Rattenbury House

Francis Rattenbury's summer house, actually. This side looks out on the bay. Jimmy Chicken Island is just a swim away at low tide ... directly behind this snap.

Rattenbury was a British architect that came to Canada in 1891 ... to be an architect. He was prolific for quite some time. He did this sweet house above, and he did the building I work in, and he did a load of gorgeous houses on Rockland, not to mention the Empress Hotel, and he did the BC Legislature, which is really quite pretty at night.

Anyway, Rattenbury, despite being otherwise betrothed, engaged in a rather public extra-marital affair with a local trollop. He was shunned (as one was in 1929) and eventually run out of town, leaving his wife and two children behind in Rattenbury House.

Rattenbury and his fancy piece high tailed it back to England. Once settled in Bournemouth, the paramour took a teenaged lover named Stoner, who happened to be their chauffeur. Stoner became enraged one night (as lovers are from time to time) and felled Rattenbury with a tool of his very own trade!

It gets worse, so I won't go on.

Rattenbury House is now a primary school ... ages 4 to 11. The children thrive, despite the wretched ghosts.

But, never mind all that ... have you heard this? It's good.