Key Number:	HS 18683
Site Name:	Dr. Haig Residence
Other Names:
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			9	21	4

Address:	1115 - 8 Avenue S
Number:	15
Street:	11 S
Avenue:	8 S
Other:
Town:	Lethbridge
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Long Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:	Composition: Plaster or Stucco
Roof Structure:	Flat
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Window - Special Types: Round Window - Special Types: Bay, Bow or Oriel Window - Special Types: Stained Glass Main Porch - Type: Recess
Exterior:	It is resting on a concrete foundation. Plan shape: diagonal placing on lot. German architecture blocky, simple, non-decorative simple curves above entrance and upper storey door.
Interior:	The interior floor is finished with hardwood stips and the walls and ceiling with plaster. In the central hall, the corners are rounded and the walls are curvilinear, the Streamline Moderne style.
Environment:	This building is in a residential area where 99% of the houses are either bungalows or typical western residential housing. There is no threat of redevelopment of this area. The Haig property has been heavily landscaped with most of the original plants and trees still remaining. This house is not particularly conspicuous in the Lethbridge area, but it stands out in its neighbourhood because of its design, a good example of the International Style.
Condition:	The house is resting on concrete foundation which provides good stability. Regular housekeeping and good maintenance have kept the building fabric both outside and inside in good condition. Structurally, it is sound and durable. Good (2004)
Alterations:	There have been no major alterations to the building, although the main floor has been carpetted and the kitchen modernized. The degree of original fabrica on this building is 100% on the exterior, and 90% on the interior, including the unique paintings on the walls of the livingroom and bedroom, and the octagonal doorknobs throughout the house.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Constructed.	1937/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Residence	1937/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Dr. Arthur Haig Arthur Aitcheson Haig & Phyllis Grace Haig Phyllis Grace Haig	1937/01/01 1962/12/31 1986/12/29

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	Fordyce & Stevenson
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	This building is designed in the International style with Arth Deco and Streamline Moderne influences: characterized by flat roof tops, smooth and uniform wall surfaces and large windows. The comlete absence of ornamentation is also typical. The asymmetrically balanced composition is placed dramatically within the landscape. * * * Haig House ... The Haig Residence of Lethbridge, Alberta, built in 1937 by the Calgary firm Fordyce and Stevenson, represents the latter school. Three different styles would emerge during the mid 1920's to early 1930's based upon a new visual language: Art Deco, Streamline Moderne and the International Style. Each of the three styles developed a unique architectural vocabulary, although they all drew upon and expressed the modern world of science, technology and the machine for their visual forms. Art Deco and Streemline Moderne shared certain thematic concerns, unlike the more radical of the three, the International Style. Yet more often than not in North American domestic architecture, the three styles would mingle. The Haig Residence is noteworthy example of the subtle merging of these three modern architectural movements, which can be viewed historically as being nothing short of revolutionary. ... Draft Press Release Edmonton, Alberta The Honourable Mary J. LeMessurier, Minister of Culture, announced today that the Haig Residence in Lethbridge has been designated a Provincial Historic Resource. It was constructed in 1937 for Dr. Arthur Haig. Born in North Dakota and raised in Claresholm, Haig attended medical school at the University of Alberta and McGill University. After serving briefly as a country doctor at Consort, Alberta, Haig returned to Montreal for further studies. While there, he accepted an offer to take over the practice of a Lethbridge doctor who wished to pursue his studies in Scotland. His move to Lethbridge in 1930 proved to be permanent, and the Haigs soon planned the construction of a modern, fashionable dwelling. The Calgary architectural firm of Fordyce and Stevenson designed the house according to the most modern architectural principles, which rejected the previous emulation of historical styles and drew upon the modern world of science, technology and the machine for inspiration. The architects produced an impressive blend of three stylistic trends known as 'Art Deco', 'Streamline and Moderne' and 'International'. The last and most radical of these schools stressed an absence of ornament and surface indentation to emphasize space and volume instead of mass and solidity, the intrinsic elegance of materials and fine proportion, and inside, an open free flowing plan to replace regidly symmetrical shapes. Design of the Haig house began with the 'International' approach: the flat roofs of varied levels in asymmetrical balance, the smooth white stucco finish, the strip windows, and the metal railing to enclose the second storey patio and emphasize horizontal line. But an absolute dedication to the 'International' style would have produced too stark a result, and the Haigs were also influenced by 'Art Deco' and 'Streamline' examples they had seen on a visit to Minneapolis. The square plan, the inset windows, the tiered central pavilion over the etrance way, the rounded canopy over the entry door, the tiled bathrooms, the sleekly curved interior corners, and the plaster floor-to-ceiling fireplace all reflect 'Art Deco' and 'Streamline Moderne' modifications and decorative detail. In sum, the Haig Residence represents the foremost architectural imagination of the 1930s in residential construction.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:
Provincial Historic Resource	1986/06/25

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places:	4665-0470