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White Residence
Calgary
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
This 1915 stucco-clad, low-pitched hipped roof one and a half-storey home is a Prairie Style house, and is one of the early houses built in South Calgary that represents the use of this style in the early part of the 1900s.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of this house is based in its Prairie Style architectural elements and its original interior details. Built in 1915 by Robert White, a mechanic, and Mary Ethelwynne White, the house is located on a parcel on 33 AV near 14 ST SW in the community of South Calgary. The White family, through inheritance and marriage, retained title to the parcel from 1914 to 1959. Following the White family ownership, James and Rose Murray lived in the house for almost two decades with few known alterations. One of the key pieces to this home is the uniquely well preserved condition of its interior.
The White's Prairie style house is representative of housing for the trades and blue-collar workers who settled on less expensive lots prior to an economic surge after South Calgary was annexed into The City of Calgary in 1907.
The house is located a stone's throw from the historic Calgary Municipal Railway system, of which route seven ran south along 14 ST to 26 AV, west to 20 ST, then south to 34 AV and back east to intersect 14 ST forming a virtual transit loop around South Calgary's perimeter before heading back downtown. When the streetcar line was first extended down 14 ST beyond 17 AV in late 1911 it reached only as far as 26 AV, then returned. However, bowing to pressure from the growing population settling in South Calgary the south line was extended at the end of 1913. Marda Loop which includes the community of South Calgary attributes its community name to this streetcar loop.
This Prairie Style house has strong horizontal lines, a low-pitched hipped roof, with a front facing hipped dormer on the second storey featuring a horizontally oriented window. The porch, which stretches under the deep eaves across the entire front of the house, features squared support columns that run continuously from the ground up to the roofline. Porch columns with stylized capitals are characteristic of the Prairie Style. The interior of this house has very high heritage value, as significant portions of it are original including: Douglas fir floors, wood panelling, door and window casings, windows, light fixtures and ceiling beams.
Character-Defining Elements
- One- and-a-half storey form low-pitched hipped roof with deep eaves and a front facing hipped dormer on the upper storey;
- Porch across the front of the house, with a deeply recessed front door; squared support columns that begin at ground level and terminate under the eaves with stylized column capitals and eave brackets; wooden tongue and groove soffits and porch ceiling ; solid balustrades;
- Roughcast stucco clad with wood trim, wood door and window casings with aprons at the porch openings;
- Douglas fir floors, throughout the main and the upstairs floor area;
- Douglas fir stairwell with original wood railings;
- Board and batten wood panelling, at two-thirds wall height with plate rail, throughout main entryway, living room, parlour-sitting room and dining room areas on the main floor;
- Wood baseboards and door-window casings throughout;
- Decorative exposed wood beams on ceiling;
- Brickwork on two fireplaces (one on each side of a shared chimney);
- Windows in much of the house including transom window configuration in the dining room, original windows in the living room, and front parlour; and
- Original glass light fixtures in the dining room and living room.
Location
| Street Address: |
1524 - 33 Avenue SW |
| Community: |
Calgary |
| Boundaries: |
Lots 11 and 12, Block 63, Plan 4479P |
| Contributing Resources: |
Building: 1
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ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
4479P
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63
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11,12
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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51.024265 |
-114.096030 |
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NAD 83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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5656533 |
703647 |
|
|
NAD83 |
Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Local Governments (AB) |
| Designation Status: |
Municipal Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
2017/02/27 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1915 to 1915 |
| Period of Significance: |
1914 to 1918 |
| Theme(s): |
Peopling the Land : Settlement
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| Historic Function(s): |
Residence : Single Dwelling
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| Current Function(s): |
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| Architect: |
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
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Additional Information
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