Key Number:	HS 51066
Site Name:	Old Whitney House Residence
Other Names:
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			8	21	4

Address:	3202 - 28 Street S
Number:	2
Street:	28 S
Avenue:	32 S
Other:
Town:	Lethbridge
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	Rectangular Long Facade
Storeys:	Storeys: 1 1/2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:	Brick - Bond: Stretcher
Roof Structure:	Medium Gable
Roof Cover:	Wood
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: None Wings: Rear Number of Bays - Facade: First or Ground Floor, 5 Bays Number of Bays - Facade: Second Floor, 1 Bay Wall Design and Detail: None Roof Trim - Eaves: Plain Soffit Roof Trim Material - Eaves: Wood Roof Trim - Verges: Projecting Verges Roof Trim - Verges: Plain Fascia Roof Trim - Verges: Plain Soffit Roof Trim Material - Verges: Wood Towers, Steeples and Domes: None Towers, Steeples and Domes Location-Side to Side: None Dormer Type: None Chimney Location - Side to Side: Centre Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Centre Chimney Stack Material: Brick Chimney Stack Massing: Single Chimney Stack Massing: 2 or More, Attached at Top Roof Trim - Special Features: None Window - Structural Opening Shape: Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Plain Flat Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Label Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Voussoirs Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Window - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Material: Wood Window - Sill Type: Plain Slip Sill Window - Sill Type: Plain Lug 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: 2 or More (Facade) Main Entrance - Location: Not on Facade Main Entrance - Structural Opening Shape: Segmental Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Label Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Head: Voussoir Main Entrance - Trim Outside Structural Opening - Sides: Plain Main Entrance - Number of Leaves: 1 Main Stairs - Location and Design: First or Ground Floor, Without Railing Main Porch - Type: Open Porch Main Porch - Type: Closed Verandah Main Porch - Special Features: None Main Porch - Special Features: Columns Main Porch - Material: Concrete Main Porch - Height: First Storey
Exterior:	Enclosed front veranda. S.E. corner arched window detail.
Interior:	1st floor -6 Rooms; 2nd floor -4 rooms
Environment:	Near Lethbridge Community College, to southeast of it. House on west side of 28 Street S. Access from Scenic Drive. Near Rollag Subdivision. Area:  40 acres   Parcel of land to south subdivided off original site in.
Condition:	Good (2005)
Alterations:	Addition & Renovation 1956 Garage 1975

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started Construction Completed Construction	1908/01/01 1910/01/01 2003/01/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Residence Residence	1910/01/01 1983/01/01
Owner:	Owner Date:
Vaughn and Cheryl Atkinson Whitney	1903/01/01

Architect:	N/A
Builder:	N/A
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Whitney owned the Whitney block (Where the Harvester restaurant is in 1980) at 411 - 3 Avenue South.  House is built close to style of house of that era in Ontario where Whitney came from.   RESOURCE                             D. H. Whitney House/Ideal Farm ADDRESS                                3202 – 28 Street South, Lethbridge DESIGNATION STATUS        Registered Historic Resource HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE   The Whitney family were important pioneer residents of Lethbridge and southern Alberta.   David J. Whitney (1860-1936) came to the Fort Macleod district in 1882, part of a family chain migration from Ontario that began with his brother William (Curly) Whitney in 1878.   He and his brother, Robert ranched in that area for a number of years.   He established a dairy in Fernie, British Columbia in 1898.   He then moved to Lethbridge and became a real estate dealer.   In 1903 David and his wife Nancy bought 470 acres of land just east of Lethbridge, and the Whitney house was built on the new farmstead the same year.   A Lethbridge Herald article of February 1909 described the house as “fitted up with all modern improvements, including hot and cold flowing water.”   David’s farm was as modern as his home.   The same 1909 article makes mention of Mr. Whitney’s experimentation with various crops, including: Turkey Red Wheat, Timothy Alfalfa, strawberries, celery, watermelons, pumpkins and squash.   His farm was known as the “Ideal Farm,” and along with Professor Fairfields’ model farm across the highway, it became an important symbol of the agricultural wealth of the area.   His experiments in tree culture were noted by the Inspector of Forestry, and Whitney was awarded a prize for the best shelter belt in Alberta.   Photographs of the farm house and fields were used in a variety of promotional materials, and in later years much of the farm land was sold to the Lethbridge Junior College, now the Lethbridge Community College, as a part of the college campus.   One of the publicity numbers extolling the merits of Lethbridge found in the Lethbridge News of 1912 contained a photograph of the Whitney farm house with the verse “A cultivated farm, A never-failing ditch, A farmer thus removed from harm, In little time grows rich.”   An interesting feature of this farm house is its design.   Mr. Whitney had traveled west from Kingston, Ontario, and his farm house is an excellent example of the transferal of building styles and materials.   This brick farm house is patterned very closely on the kind of farm houses common in the late 19 th century in Eastern Ontario, but which are relatively rare in Alberta.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:

Register:	N/A

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: