Key Number:	HS 72621
Site Name:	Tom Sharman House
Other Names:
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			53	2	5

Address:
Number:
Street:
Avenue:
Other:
Town:
Near Town:	Onoway

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Irregular
Storeys:	Storeys: 2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Medium Hip
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: Unknown Wall Design and Detail: None Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Soffit Roof Trim Material - Eaves: Wood Roof Trim - Verges: Plain Soffit Roof Trim Material - Verges: Wood Towers, Steeples and Domes: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Offset Left Chimney Location - Side to Side: Offset Right Chimney Stack Material: Stone Chimney Stack Massing: Single Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Wood Window - Sill Type: Plain Slip Sill Window - Sill Material: Wood Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Window - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Number of Sashes: One Window - Opening Mechanism: Single or Double Hung Window - Special Types: None Window - Pane Arrangements: 2 over 2 Main Entrance - Location: Off-Centre (Facade) Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening Material: Wood Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Head: Plain Main Entrance - Trim Within Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Entrance - Number of Panels Per Leaf: 1 Main Entrance - Leaves - Special Feature: Glass Main Stairs - Location and Design: None Main Porch - Type: Recess Main Porch - Material: Concrete Main Porch - Height: First Storey
Exterior:	3 stone chimneys. Bay on west side wooden porch with shed roof on south side exposed log rafter.
Interior:	Lath. Plastre 2 archways fieldstone fireplace recessed windows. Oakfloors downstairs, birch on upper hall. Fir floors upstairs. 4 Rooms main floor 4 + Bathrooms upstairs + In attic.
Environment:	Treed setting on high ground in NE Corner of Section.
Condition:	Structure: Good Repair: Fair
Alterations:	N/A

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started	1920/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Residence	1920/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Tom Sharman	1979/03/17

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Tom Sharman was a stonemason from Yorkshire England. Tom Sharman homesteaded the land around the time of world War I. Original log building already in poor state when stone house was built. In 1947 Gordon Reagh Stuart traded a Vancouver rooming house for Tom Sharmanson Beath. In 1965 the house was rented for 2 years to Herb and Dolores Brent. At this the back stairway was removed and the kitchen enlarged. Mr. Lowell Stuart still lives there. A very interesting building. =================================== D-2145 - FIELDSTONE HOUSE, ONOWAY HISTORICAL CONTEXT: When the Canadian Northern Railway extended a line through Onoway in 1909, en route to Jasper and Vancouver, much of the rich agricultural land east of Lac Ste Anne was made immediately viable for homesteading. Even before the railway arrived however, and indeed even before the Dominion Land Surveys of 1904-05, a number of settlers had taken up land in the Onoway area. One of these was Thomas Sharman, who settled on NW34 TP52 R3 W5 in 1903, in a district soon to be known as Heatherdown. Sharman had been born in Ireland, and had come to western Canada from North Dakota, where he had been a stonemason as well as a farmer. He had first attempted to homestead near Camrose, but was unsuccessful. Near Heatherdown however, he and his wife succeeded in proving up, and eventually they acquired five quarters. As he cleared and broke his land, Sharman made a point of salvaging pristine stones that inundated his fields. Being a stonemason, he had an idea that one day these would prove useful. By the mid 1920s, he decided to use these stones for a new house. With the help of his youngest son, Lawrence, and local neighbors, he designed and built a large dwelling utilizing the material he had salvaged. He moved into his new home in about 1927, and lived there with his wife until passing away a few years later. The house and the farm were then taken over by Lawrence Sharman and his wife, Florence, who died tragically in a fire on the farm in 1936. The Field Stone House then continued to be occupied by Lawrence Sharman on his own until he moved to British Columbia in 1947. It was then acquired by Gordon Stewart, his wife Lenabelle, and their son, Lowell. With Lenabelle's death, Gordon and Lowell continued to farm the land and occupy the house as bachelors. Lowell would reside there until 1990, when he sold the quarter with the house to Thomas and Carolyne Summer. The Summers now want to turn it into a bed and breakfast. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The historical significance of the Field Stone House of Thomas Sharman lies in its representation of the settlement of the Onoway area, and of the richness of the farmland in the district. It is also significant in demonstrating the inventiveness and craftsmanship of one of Onoway's early settlers. Sharman House Description of Historic Place The Sharman House is a two-storey stone building situated on 2.47 hectares of land near the Town of Onoway. The home was completed in the late 1920s and is distinguished by its picturesque exterior, which is composed of different shapes and sizes of split fieldstone. Other prominent features of the home include a hipped roof with intersecting roof ridges, hipped wall dormers, three tall stone chimneys, and a two-storey bay projecting from the southwest corner of the building. The yard of the home includes a garden and mature evergreen trees north of the house dating from the period of construction. Heritage Value The heritage value of the Sharman House lies in the excellent craftsmanship evident in its split fieldstone construction and the home's picturesque aesthetic appeal. The earliest settlers in the Onoway area preceded both the arrival of the Dominion Lands Survey in 1904-05 and the coming of the Northern Alberta Railway line in 1909. One of the region's pioneers was Thomas Sharman, an Irish farmer and stonemason who took up land in the district in 1903. In the process of clearing his fields, he amassed a huge collection of fieldstones. In the mid-1920s, Sharman decided to make good use of his quarry; with the assistance of his son and some local neighbours, he designed and built the Sharman House. Sharman's craftsmanship is evident in the quality of the split fieldstone masonry and the solidity of the building, which consists of two-foot thick walls set atop a board-formed concrete foundation of equal thickness. His aesthetic sensibility is reflected in the picturesque composition of the various colours and shapes of stones and in the irregular plan of the home. It is also apparent in the blending of Queen Anne and Craftsman style architectural elements Sharman incorporated into his home, including the exposed rafter ends, four-panelled wood doors, four-over-one single-hung windows, and plain fir stair with square newels and square spindled balustrade. The well-conceived marriage of materials, craftsmanship, and architectural sensibility has imparted to the Sharman House its distinctive character and charm. Source: Alberta Community Development, Heritage Resource Management Branch (File: Des. 2145) Character-Defining Elements The character-defining elements of the Sharman House include such features as: - mass, form, scale, and style; - various colours and shapes of split fieldstones that compose the exterior; - quoin-like corners; - hipped roof with intersecting roof ridges and three tall stone chimneys; - hipped wall dormers; - two-storey bay projecting from the southwest corner of the building; - exposed rafter ends at the eaves; - fenestration pattern and style, including four-over-one single-hung windows; - original interior elements, including four-panelled wood doors, plain fir stair with square newels and square spindled balustrade, extensive fir interior trim, cobblestone fireplace, fixtures, and heating grates; - interior walls covered with wood lath and a three-coat plaster system; - extant water well in basement; - landscape elements north of the house, including garden and mature evergreen trees in the yard. Theme(s): Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life: Architecture and Design ===================================== STYLE Thomas Sharman, an obviously skilled stonemason, built the Saumer Stone House in the late 1920s to serve as his family farmhouse. The building was apparently designed and assembled by Sharman himself and although the style can best be described as vernacular, it hints at the popular arts and crafts movement in that many of its components are drawn from pattern books and catalogs of the period, through which Craftsman style elements persisted well into the 1930s. The style of the farmhouse is a good example, of which many survive. The same can be said with regard to the barn, sheds and ancillary structures. DESIGN It is the design of the Saumer house that is particularly noteworthy. The design, or more accurately, the unique assembly of its component parts into its ultimate composition is distinctive, pleasing and demonstrates a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail. The most conspicuous part of this structure, of course, is the striking use of cut fieldstone for its primary building material. The distinctive stonework is a testament to the masonry skills of the builder and to his artistic selection and placement of each split fieldstone. Additionally, the less evident, solid, structural details of the concrete sills, lintels and foundation demonstrate the builder's skill and understanding of solid masonry construction. The two-storey house is based on an irregular plan and the informality of the plan also translates to the additional functional and decorative features. A two-storey bay projects from the southwest corner of the structure, adding a distinctive feature, which may have been an afterthought to the original plan since it does not share its foundation with the building proper. In fact, it appears as though the foundation under the bay is structurally insufficient since this is the only part of the building that is settling and pulling away from the main stone wall. Three chimneys, each with one flue serve the heating and venting needs of the house, one for the living room fireplace, one for the kitchen stove and one for the furnace located in the basement. The hipped roof provides a complimentary and intricate punctuation to the irregularity of the house plan with intersecting roof ridges, interrupted by low, hipped wall dormers, where the front on the dormer window face is flush with and part of the main building stone wall. Off-the-shelf "Craftsman" details are used extensively throughout the structure, such as: " open, exposed rafter ends at the eaves; " four-panel fir doors (one square upper panel surmounting three long, vertical lower panels) - described in period catalogs as "Craftsman"; " four-over-one, single-hung window sash (four vertically arranged panes) - described in period catalogs as "Craftsman", and; " a plain fir stair comprising of square newel and square spindled balustrade. Additionally, the extensive fir interior trim and particularly the cobblestone fireplace reference the cottage look of the Arts and Crafts movement. It is the fieldstone house that is of particular value in this category and it can be said that the barns, sheds and ancillary structures are merely contributing resources to the site. Saumer Stone House: The farmhouse is constructed with split fieldstones of various rock types and colours, generally arranged with horizontal coursing, with areas of random coursing. Corners are soundly built with fieldstones cut and used alternatively in the fashion of quoins in order to achieve straight and true corners. The stone walls are solid and appear to be approximately two feet thick and rest on a board-formed concrete foundation of a similar thickness, which provides for a full basement under the structure, except under the west bay projection. Window and door openings are achieved with concrete sills and lintels. The wood structural systems, which frame the floors, ceilings and the roof structure, appear to be well built but with common techniques for this period. Interior walls are covered with wood lath and a three-coat plaster system. Trim, window sash and doors as well as flooring and other finish materials also appear to be readily available standard building components. One notable feature, described by the present building owner, is the extant water well (approx. four feet in diameter) at approximately the centre of the basement. This well not only served the needs of the house, but apparently water was pumped from the well, through an underground delivery system to a large barn, previously located south of the house in an adjacent field.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	2007/07/03

Register:

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-1338