Key Number:	HS 23453
Site Name:	Sheriff Robertson Residence
Other Names:
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	8120 Jasper Avenue
Number:	20
Street:	81
Avenue:	Jasper
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:	Prairie
Plan Shape:	Square
Storeys:	Storeys: 1
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Stone
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Low Hip
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Roof Trim - Special Features: Cupola or Lantern Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Entablature Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Side Lights Main Porch - Type: Open Verandah
Exterior:	Portico, double driveway, cupola - portion between house roof and cupola roof is leaded pane glass, main entry with entablature, sidelights, carved oak, door, deer heads flanking door; verandah. Hip roof with raised skylight lantern dome; large porte-cochere at entry with brick columns; symmetrical massing with flanking glassed sun rooms; large lot. Prairie School Style; one storey; brick walls; large projecting eaves; notable glass cupola; windows, door details driveway porte cochere.
Interior:	The rooms surround a circular living room that is lit by skylights in the cupola. Buffalo head. * * * The most striking feature of the house is the octagonal rotunda with its two-storey ceiling featuring an octagonal skylight capped with a cupola. Interior lights provide night-time magic. One of Robertson's prize shots - a bison head - still stares out atop the Baronial fieldstone fireplace. Stuffed heads of other game, also relics of Robertson's passion for hunting, are found on other walls. The oil paintings were presumably left behind by other occupants. Calderon designed the rotunda with symmetry in mind. The oak door to the serving area adjoining the dining room and kitchen was built to compare favorably with an alcove seat that disguises a wood box. The walls feature oak wainscotting with eight original Tiffany-style lamps in the corners. In its cruciform design, the house is divided into four sections surrounding the central rotunda. At the front is the expansive porch with an overhang extending over a semi-circular carriage way. On the west is the parlor with vintage sconce lighting fixtures and another fireplace. Double French doors with transom open to a sun porch, while an opening leads to the dining room, which has the original three-quarter leatherette wainscotting on its walls. The kitchen remains much as it must have been in 1913 - spartan, with painted tongue and groove wainscotting, original porcelain sink, and all its cabinets concentrated in the walk-in pantry. There's an old bell system to summon servants. On the east are two large bedrooms and a bathroom where the original fixtures include a pedestal sink. The master bedroom has double French doors with transom to a corresponding eastern sun porch. The other bedroom still has the original but fading pink and gold leaf design paper on the walls. The fourth section, facing north, has a third bedroom, rear vestibule, and basement access. The basement was finished many years ago, and has a third fireplace and other fixtures of the period in its rumpus room.
Environment:	Neighbourhood: Cromdale The house is situated on Jasper Avenue facing east. It enjoys an unobstructed view of the entire river valley and, also, of the downtown area. Residential area; concrete block retaining wall with stone piers that match house foundation. The garage, originally built as a carriage house, still stands on the northwest corner of the two city lots the house occupies.
Condition:	Very good condition. The building and grounds are well maintained. The original landscaping remains as does the stone and iron fence surrounding the grounds. Good (1993).
Alterations:	1913 - stable constructed May 5 at a cost of $10,000.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed	1913/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Residence	1913/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Scott Robertson G.E. Winkler Harry Ferris William Noak Edith Noak Glen P. Convey & Nancy Convey Estate of W.S. Robertson	1913/01/01 1919/09/04 1929/01/14 1935/01/23 1958/10/02 1987/01/01 2017/03/27

Architect:	Alfred Calderon
Builder:	W. Carter
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	W. Scott Robertson arrived in Edmonton in 1881. He quickly became successful, and eventually resulted in Robertson becoming a wealthy man. In 1884 he was appointed Deputy Sheriff for the Edmonton District. After the formation of the Province in 1905, Robertson became Edmonton's first sheriff. He was also employed as a manager of the Canada Life Assurance Company. W. Scott Robertson became an active and involved participant in the social and cultural life of the Edmonton area. Among other activities, he constructed an opera hall on Jasper which featured many prominent performers of the time period. He died in 1915. ***** When Walter Scott Robertson settled in Edmonton in 1882, he brought with him a piano -- Edmonton's first. Then in 1893 he built the city's first opera hall, near the location of the Dreamland Theatre. But Robertson's activities were not restricted to the musical, though that was one of his loves. He was also sheriff for northern Alberta, and when he decided that job didn't pay well enough, he turned to other activities. He ran a wholesale grocery and a flour mill, speculated in real estate, and outfitted prospectors on their way to the Klondike. The residences of the Robertson family were as varied as Sheriff Robertson's jobs. Mrs. Robertson complained that they moved more than any other family in Edmonton. The Robertsons were one of the few families to live outside of Fort Edmonton during the Riel Rebellion. They lived in a log house located near what is now the Macdonald Hotel. One day, a horseman rode up, excitedly shouting that the Indians were attacking St. Albert. After some momentary fright, everyone calmed down when they realized he meant Prince Albert, which posed a somewhat lesser threat. Then for a while the Robertsons lived in a house near the present-day Salvation Army near 96 Street. Later, around 1914, Sheriff Robertson built one of the first houses in Cromdale at 8120 Jasper Avenue. The house was of unique design -- the rooms surrounded a circular living room that was lit only by skylights in the cupola. The above picture was taken while the Robertsons still lived in the house. The buffalo head you see is still there today, and it gives an indication of Walter Scott Robertson's interest in guns and hunting. Robertson was, in fact, one of the early presidents of Edmonton Rifle Association. Long-time residents of the neighbourhood remember Sheriff Robertson as an elderly man sitting on the porch in a rocking chair. * * * The Robertson House is a one-half storey brick structure faced in red brown stretcher bond brick. The floor plan is irregular with one storey wings abutting the central square, which has a hipped roof topped with a large octagonal skylight cupola. In the central front facade is a concave curve containing a doorway with transom and side lights. This entrance is covered by a large hip roofed porte-cochere (carriage way) supported by square corbelled piers. Low curved fieldstone walls flank the facade and border the front property line. In June 1913, W. Scott Robertson commissioned architect A.M. Calderon to design a house for him. W.J. Carater was the builder. A large brick house was constructed for $10,000., a substantial sum of money to be spent in 1913 on a private residence. The Robertson family occupied the house from 1913 until 1919. It continues to be used as a private residence. W. Scott Robertson arrived in Edmonton in 1881. He quickly became involved in the financial life of the village with the purchase of a general store. Land investments proved successful, and eventually resulted in Robertson becoming a wealthy man. In 1884 he was appointed Deputy Sheriff for the Edmonton District. After the formation of the Province in 1905, Robertson became Edmonton's first Sheriff. He was also employed as manager of the Canada Life Assurance Company. W. Scott Robertson became an active and involved participant in the social and cultural life of the Edmonton area. Among other activities, he constructed an opera hall on Jasper which featured many prominent performers of the time period. He died in 1915. The Robertson House was built in 1913 following a style seldom found in Alberta, one pioneered by the famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright designed the first house in what came to be known as the 'Prairie Style' in 1900 and knowledge of his work was spread by extensive coverage in publications such as House Beautiful, widely distributed in the United States and Canada. A.M. Calderon, the building's architect, was strongly influenced by Wright's development of a style which was a simplification of the commercial Chicago School architecture popular in the period. Wrightian structures were built due to architects and clients sharing ideals of simplicity and truth to materials in building. For these reasons Prairie Style houses lack historical ornament and use materials in their most natural form. The Robertson House is a superlative example of an internationally significant architectural style, one unusual at such an early date in western Canada. * * * FIRST SHERIFF'S HOME HAD A 'CRUCIFORM' DESIGN Our Historic Buildings: Robertson House By Jac Macdonald Journal Staff Writer ... He initially came here in 1879 simply to sate his appetite for buffalo hunting. But Walter Scott Robertson - who was to become Alberta's first sheriff and a pioneer theatre and opera sponsor, not to mention an ardent hunter - was disappointed on that trip. The buffalo were already beginning to thin out and he never shot one until a later time. But he did say the sight of the river valley took such a grip upon him that he vowed to return with his wife and six children. The enchanting house he built in 1913 at 8120 Jasper Avenue for his retirement was his to enjoy for only two years. Robertson died in 1915 at the age of 74. ... Robertson purchased the land for $800 and his building permit showed the house to have a value of $10,000. After his death, Robertson's widow continued to live in the house until 1919 when it was sold for $12,000 to lawyer Gordon Winkler. The house was sold in 1928 to coal mine operator Harry Ferris for $13,001. When Ferris sold in 1934 to William Noak, founder of Queen City Meats, the Depression was on and the value had plunged to $3,000. The current asking price is $209,000. McDonough was Noak's daughter and she inherited the house when her father died in 1958, continuing to live in it until her death last year. (1985). * * * SHERIFF ROBERTSON HOUSE (1913) First Sheriff's Home Cromdale residents remembered him as an elderly man, sitting in a rocking chair on the impressive 60-foot-wide porch with its sprawling view of the North Saskatchewan River valley. He first came here in 1879 simply to sate his appetite for buffalo hunting. But for Walter Scott Robertson - who was to become the first sheriff of the Edmonton judicial district and a pioneer theatre and opera sponsor - the sight of the river valley took such a grip on him that he vowed to return with his wife and six children. The enchanting house he built for his retirement was his to enjoy for only two years. Robertson died in 1915 at the age of 74. Termed prairie-style architecture, the 2,000-square-foot house was designed by local architect Alfred Marigon Calderon, who also designed LeMarchand Mansion and McIntosh House. Calderon was heavily influenced by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who designed the first 'prairie-style' house in Kamkakee, Illinois, in 1900. One trademark of the prairie style was the use of natural materials with little historical ornament. Wright had incorporated a cruciform plan into many of his early designs and Calderon also did this in Robertson's house. The most striking feature of the house is the octagonal rotunda with its two-storey ceiling featuring an octagonal skylight capped with a cupola. Interior lights provide night-time magic. Calderon designed the rotunda with symmetry in mind. The oak door to the serving area adjoining the dining room and kitchen was built to compare favorably with an alcove seat that disguises a wood box. The walls feature oak wainscotting with eight original Tiffany-style lamps in the corners. In its cruciform design, the house is divided into four sections surrounding the central rotunda. At the front is the vestibule and the expansive porch with an overhang extending over a semi-circular carriage way. On the west is the parlor with vintage sconce lighting fixtures. Double French doors open to a sun porch, while an opening leads to the dining room, which has the original three-quarter leatherette wainscotting on its walls. On the east are two large bedrooms and a bathroom. The master bedroom has double French doors with transom to a sun porch. The other bedroom still has the original but fading pink and gold leaf design paper on the walls. Robertson purchased the land for $800 and his building permit showed the house to have a value of $10,000. After his death, Robertson's widow continued to live in the house until 1919 when it was sold for $12,000 to lawyer Gordon Winkler. In a 1908 interview with The Edmonton Bulletin, Robertson recalled: 'I felt that for dairying it would be the greatest country on the continent, and that with the railroads there would be great development. Besides that, there was and is something in the climate or the country that makes men more daring that in the east. They are not afraid to take chances here.' During the Riel Rebellion in 1885, the Robertsons were one of three families brave enough to continue living outside the protective palisades of the fort. The other two were the Frank Oliver and John Cameron families.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Municipal A List Provincial Historic Resource	1987/05/06

Register:	A20

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0459