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Former Engineer's House
Brooks
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Former Engineer's House is an elegant wood-frame bungalow that incorporates elements of classical revival architecture. Built circa 1911, it is located in Evergreen Park in Brooks. The home and yard have been recognized for their heritage value by the City of Brooks Bylaw 07/05.
Heritage Value
The Former Engineer's House has heritage value for its association with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and its development of Brooks and the surrounding area. It has specific associations with CPR engineers A.S. Dawson and Augustus Griffin. This striking bungalow also possesses heritage value as an architectural embodiment of the British colonial mentality still so prevalent in Canada before the first World War.
The CPR played an important role in the settlement of the "last best west." It was a lifeline to pioneers in the transportation of goods, building materials, people and livestock. The transcontinental railway company sent land agents across the world to bring farmers. The work of the CPR engineers to bring water to what surveyor Captain John Palliser called a "barren, infertile, and treeless land" was critical to the development of the community of Brooks. Designed by CPR engineer A. S. Dawson and constructed circa 1911 as his residence, the CPR Engineer's House is a monument to the efforts of CPR staff in the region. Dawson laboured to oversee the construction of the Bassano Dam, the Brooks Aqueduct, the Duke of Sutherland's fine home, and many other company buildings in the CPR's Eastern Irrigation District. The second resident of the home was Augustus Griffin, a widely known irrigation engineer renowned for his outstanding abilities. Griffin's horticultural expertise was of great benefit to the development of the CPR demonstration farm in the area. Research and trials became a valuable resource to farmers trying to understand an untamed, unfamiliar land. Not only did he work very hard himself, he had the skills to inspire others to great accomplishments. The stately elegance and restful shade of Evergreen Park is a living reminder of the days when the CPR headquarters farm covered the western half of Brooks
The bungalow, as a building type, originated in nineteenth-century colonial India, and then spread to other parts of the British Empire. It proved to be a versatile building form with strong symbolic associations. The expansive verandah, in this case with a pediment marking the main entry and supported by Tuscan Order columns, is a typical feature of a bungalow. True divided light window panes are present in the door, front windows, and dormers, providing a visual unity to the home.
Source: EID Archives and Tapping the Bow by Renie Gross and Lea Nicoll Kramer
Character-Defining Elements
The elements that define the site's heritage character include:
- location in Evergreen park amid a row of houses originally built to house CPR staff and affectionately known as "rotten row" because of the privileged lifestyle enjoyed by these residents;
- single storey, with uninterrupted sweeping roofline;
- cedar-shingled hipped roof with two unobtrusive, small dormers that provide light to the hallway;
- Tuscan Order classical columns;
- the verandah on the front and east side of the house to enjoy the yard and its diverse plantings;
- the historic window design with true divided light panes;
- the interior floorplan that speaks of a formal lifestyle, including butler's pantry and a maid's chamber;
- original hardwood flooring;
- yard full of the trial plantings of Augustus Griffin, including arthritic-looking black oaks, white plums that fruit yearly, century-old towering poplars whose girth requires the span of 3 peoples' arms to encircle it, and unusual species of maple and honeysuckle;
- excellent documentation of the life of the house, including original blueprints and historical photos of the house and yard from 1912-1935.
Location
| Street Address: |
50 and 54 Evergreen Park Close |
| Community: |
Brooks |
| Boundaries: |
Lots 15 and 16, Block 8, Plan 0012091 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Building: 1
Landscape(s) or Landscape Feature(s): 1
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ATS Legal Description:
PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
0012091
001 2091
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8
8
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16
15
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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50.565615 |
-111.903624 |
GPS |
NAD83 |
UTM Reference:
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Northing |
Easting |
Zone |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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Recognition
| Recognition Authority: |
Local Governments (AB) |
| Designation Status: |
Municipal Historic Resource |
| Date of Designation: |
2007/03/19 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1911 To 1912 |
| Period of Significance: |
1912 To 1935 |
| Theme(s): |
Developing Economies : Extraction and Production
Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life : Architecture and Design
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| Historic Function(s): |
Residence : Single Dwelling
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| Current Function(s): |
Residence : Single Dwelling
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| Architect: |
A. S. Dawson
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| Builder: |
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| Context: |
The simple elegance of the house built as a home for the engineers of the CPR belies its significance in the development of 'The Last Best West'. The CPR depot disgorged determined men, reluctant women, and excited children as well as their livestock, lumber, tools, farm implements and all household goods. With land claims in hand and their often meager equipment they came from all over the world to settle the west. The CPR built the essential infrastructure to enable them to be successful in their endeavors.
Chief Engineer A.W. Dawson was the first resident of the house. During his tenure in Brooks, from 1912 to 1918, he designed not only his own home but that of the Duke of Sutherland, an important figure in his own right in bringing settlers to the area. Since irrigation was critical to the success of the area as arable Dawson also oversaw the construction of the Bassano Dam, the Aqueduct and all other CPR buildings in the eastern section.
The second of only two CPR residents, Engineer Augustus Griffin may have been an engineer by trade but he was a horticulturalist in his heart. He brought in thousands of plants, shrubs and trees and used his own yard as a test plot to show the settlers what was possible in this country. By importing livestock and grains he gave life to the notion that they could succeed here. His work was the forerunner of the current Horticultural Station where research goes on today.
The house is located in Evergreen Park. It wasconstructed in a row of houses built for CPR staff. The house is built in a classical revival style. The portico along the south and east side would have enabled residents and visitors alike to enjoy the diverse plantings in the yard. Many of these specimens remain today. Coming through the grand oak front door, one is aware of the natural light brought into the house by the windows in the formal living room and dining room and dormers. With a maids chamber and a bulters pantry it speaks to a formal life style enjoyed by few here at the time. The original hardwood floors remain. Original blueprints and photos of the house from 1912 to 1925 hang in the archives of the EID. The house sits as a legacy to the people who built a thriving vibrant country from "barren, infertile, and treeless land" |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4664-0180 |
| Designation File: |
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| Related Listing(s): |
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| Heritage Survey File: |
HS 28326
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| Website Link: |
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| Data Source: |
City of Brooks, 201-1st Avenue West, Brooks, Alberta, T1R 0Z6 (Bylaw 07/05) |
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