Fernwood radiates from the corner of Gladstone Avenue and Fernwood Road, between North Park, Oaklands, Jubilee and Rockland. The name comes from Benjamin Pearse's Fernwood Manor, built in 1860 and demolished in 1969; before that the area was Spring Ridge, after the spring that supplied Victoria's water until Elk Lake was piped in 1875. Most of the housing dates from the 1890s through the 1913 boom, so the streets are a dense mix of Victorian and Edwardian houses, many converted to suites, with low-rise apartment buildings and newer condominiums concentrated along Fernwood Road, Bay Street and the Cook and Yates corridor, where the City's plan allows up to about twelve storeys.
The village at Fernwood Square is car-free and hosts FernFest every June; the Belfry Theatre occupies an 1892 former church on the corner, and the Fernwood Inn, Stage wine bar and Cornerstone Café make it one of the city's busiest small villages. Victoria High School, a 1912 landmark, Central Middle and George Jay Elementary are all inside the neighbourhood. Stadacona Centre on Pandora is the other commercial node. Downtown is a fifteen-minute walk or a few minutes by bike, and Fort and Yates streets are designated frequent-transit corridors.
