William Howard Elkington (builder of the current Oak Park house) was born in Birmingham, England in 1861. He arrived in the Cowichan Valley in June of 1884 and then purchased approximately 300 acres of land along the shores of Quamichan Lake. Construction of the current Oak Park house began in June 1894 and was finished in 1895. The last Elkington family member to own the property sold it on June 25, 1999 to the Nature Conservancy of Canada to forever preserve it as a gift for all Canadians. He retained life tenancy on the property until his death in February, 2004. Visit our blog "A Pioneering Heart" for the story behind the series.