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Crawford Dietrich Residence
Medicine Hat
Other Names:
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Crawford-Dietrich Residence
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Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Crawford Dietrich Residence is a two-storey Queen Anne Revival-style brick residence situated on a corner lot on the south side of 1 Street SW at Division Avenue in the City of Medicine Hat. The residence features a prominent partial-width wrap-around verandah with decorative balustrade and frieze, central covered balcony at the second storey, and a prominent front gable with oeil de boeuf at the attic level. The house is richly decorated with millwork and features a prominent two-storey angled bay on the northwest corner of the house.
Heritage Value
The residence is highly significant as one of the oldest remaining homes associated with the high-end residential development of 1st Street (formally Esplanade) in Medicine Hat. First Street, a promenade of some of the city's most luxurious and prestigious residences, strategically situated west of downtown on the south side of the South Saskatchewan River, commenced development in the late 1800s. The residential enclave was designed to accommodate pedestrians and carriages and was lined with deciduous trees to enhance the thoroughfare.
The residence is also valued as a refined and exquisite example of the Queen Anne Revival-style by prominent Calgary architect, George M. Lang. The Queen Anne Revival style was a clear expression of affluence and good taste during the late Victorian to early Edwardian period in Alberta. Mr. Lang designed the home for William and Eva Crawford. It was constructed by builder George G. Kerr on three lots acquired from the sub-divided homestead of Rev. Herald. Crawford had arrived in Medicine Hat from Ontario in 1884 and worked as an engineer for the railroad. After retiring in 1909, he engaged in real estate and invested in a number of local businesses, including the Medicine Hat News, the Steam Laundry, the Tabor Candy Factory and several farms. The house has had two subsequent owners, the Davis family (1952) and the Dietrich family (1984).
The residence is further significant as a good example of a building which has utilized Medicine Hat's locally procured materials and talented local trades. The home was built with soft mud bricks, an early handmade brick technique, using bricks from a Medicine Hat Brickyard. Robert Congdon, a local mason completed the masonry and John Trimble undertook the interior plasterwork.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements of the Crawford Dietrich Residence include elements such as the following:
Exterior
- deep setback from the street straddling two lots with alley at rear of property;
- landscaped grassed lot with mature deciduous and coniferous trees;
- front-gabled wooden-frame garage with drop siding, corner boards, bargeboards, and double doors;
- form, scale, and massing as expressed by its: two-storey irregular plan with hipped-roof; gabled roof projection on east side of north facade; closed and angled soffits; angled two-story bay with gabled roof on northwest side; hipped-roof over partial-width, wrap-around verandah and side-gabled enclosed entryway at rear of house;
- masonry construction including soft mud brick, fieldstone foundation and formed concrete sills;
- Queen Anne Revival-style details such as the steeply pitched and varied rooflines and decorative bargeboards and cornice trim;
- fenestration such as the single assembly, 2-over-2 wooden-sash casement windows with 4-light exterior wooden-sash storms with window wells at basement level, exterior double doorway opening with transom and exterior wooden storm at balcony.
Interior
Original interior elements such as:
- wooden floors;
- elaborate decorative baseboards, crown moulding and picture and plate rails on first floor;
- cast iron heating grilles;
- decorative oak newel post with floral and bow imagery and balustrade to second storey;
- 6-paneled wooden doors with original brass hardware;
- oak fireplace mantel in library with shelf and top apron and brown enamel glazed tiles from Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogue;
- annunciator in kitchen;
- transom windows over doors on second storey.
Location
| Street Address: |
9 - 1 Street SW |
| Community: |
Medicine Hat |
| Boundaries: |
Lots 1 and 2, Block B, Plan 23560 |
| Contributing Resources: |
Structure: 2
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ATS Legal Description:
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Mer |
Rge |
Twp |
Sec |
LSD |
4
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6
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12
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36
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PBL Legal Description (Cadastral Reference):
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Plan |
Block |
Lot |
Parcel |
23560
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B
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1;2
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Latitude/Longitude:
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Latitude |
Longitude |
CDT |
Datum Type |
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50.0382296 |
-110.6873377 |
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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: |
2015/06/15 |
Historical Information
| Built: |
1901/01/01 |
| Period of Significance: |
1885 To 1905 |
| Theme(s): |
Peopling the Land : Settlement
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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: |
George M Lang
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| Builder: |
John Trimble
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| Context: |
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Additional Information
| Object Number: |
4664-0336 |
| Designation File: |
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| Related Listing(s): |
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| Heritage Survey File: |
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| Website Link: |
www.medicinehat.ca |
| Data Source: |
Source: City of Medicine Hat, City Clerk Department and Planning Department, 580 - 1st Street SE Medicine Hat, AB T1A 8E6, City of Medicine Hat (Bylaw 4195) |
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