Key Number:	HS 56305
Site Name:	O'Connor Residence
Other Names:
Site Type:	0101 - Residential: Single Dwelling

Location

ATS Legal Description:

			Twp	Rge	Mer
			52	24	4

Address:	36 St. George's Crecent
Number:	36
Street:	N/A
Avenue:	N/A
Other:
Town:	Edmonton
Near Town:

Media

Type	Number	Date	View	Source

Architectural

Style:
Plan Shape:	T
Storeys:	Storeys: 1 1/2
Foundation:	Basement/Foundation Wall Material: Concrete
Superstructure:	Nailed Frame
Superstructure Cover:
Roof Structure:	Medium Gable
Roof Cover:
Exterior Codes:	Massing of Units: Single Detached Wings: Rear Number of Bays - Facade: First or Ground Floor, 4 Bays Number of Bays - Facade: Second Floor, 6 Bays 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: Centre Chimney Location - Front to Rear: Offset Rear Chimney Stack Material: Brick 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: Open Verandah Main Porch - Special Features: Columns Main Porch - Material: Concrete
Exterior:	Lattice window; central two-storey bay with hipped roof (not quite a turret); brackets separating floors; projecting shed type windows; open verandah. Side gable roof; front dormer; central engaged turret; diamond mullions in top half of window sash; double hung wooden sash windows; two shed - roof porticoes with turned columns. Porcelain cat perched on the apex of the roof. This home is basically a frame house layered on the exterior with stucco on the upper levels and brick veneer in a band around the lower level. It rests on a good board formed concrete foundation and is topped by a gable roof which is sheathed in the original cedar shingles and a layer of asphalt shingles. The roof creates an umbrage over the front of the building to enclose a screened porch and entrance space to the front door. This portion of the roof is supported by large round columns resting on shallow concrete footings.
Interior:	Brass and crystal door knobs and switches and two brick fireplaces. Rich oak bookcases. The interior is layered in lath and plaster, and in places wood wainscotting. The building is well appointed with dark stained oak and fir trim, doors and windows. It should be noted also that 'The Graenon' possesses lattice oak windows, and brass and crystal door knobs and light switches that were imported from Australia.
Environment:	Neighbourhood: Glenora Surrounded by large trees. Large lot on curve of crescent; lych gate with name plaque - 'The Graenon'; perimeter hedge; mature elms; set to rear of property. The building is located on a triangular lot covered with trees and bushes which are now somewhat overgrown. But, the building itself is clearly visible from the road.
Condition:	Good
Alterations:	Kitchen has been remodelled. The rooms which involved the storage and preparation of food have been changed. The kitchen was modernized, the pantry changed into a utility room and the former ice-box room converted into a W.C. Very early in the life of the building a second floor sewing room was subdivided into a storage room and bedroom. A garage was added in the 1950s. Altogether the building strongly reflects an as-built quality.

Historical

Construction:	Construction Date:
Construction Started	1914/10/01
Usage:	Usage Date:
Residence Residence	1915/01/01 1978/05/13
Owner:	Owner Date:
George Bligh O'Connor	1978/05/13

Architect:	Virginia architect
Builder:	W. A. Fairlie and Morrison
Craftsman:	N/A
History:	Judge O'Connor Residence - 1920 HB Geo. B. O'Connor of Griesbach O'Connor Co. Built for George Bligh O'Connor and Hannah Margaret O'Connor. G.B. O'Connor became Chief Justice of the Alberta Supreme Court. House was called 'The Graenon'. ***** IT'S OUR HERITAGE By Lawrence Herzog (The Graenon) Peggy O'Connor Farnell was born there, married there and now, after living there for much of her life and 80 years of continuous ownership by her family, the time has come to sell. 'It hasn't been an easy decision,' she nods, 'but I'm 78 and I want it to end up in the right hands of people who will care for it like my parents did.' The historic Edmonton house, a two-storey Tudor-style gem on St. George's Crescent in Old Glenora, is listed for $559,000. But the asking price only begins to convey the value of this precious fragment of Edmonton past. The 3,152 square foot home was commissioned by Peggy's father - former Chief Justice George Bligh O'Connor - and his wife Margaret - a jounalist and one time theatre critic for the Edmonton Bulletin. 'My mother saw the design in an American magazine and said, "That's the house for us,'' 'Peggy recalls. Designed by a Virginia architect, the $10,000 house was custom built over five months beginning in April, 1914 by the firm of Morrison and Fairlie. Even the construction was in the family: W.A. Morrison was Mrs. O'Connor's brother. 'It was the only thing they ever built,' Peggy shrugs. 'The war started in August and, like a lot of young men, they joined the services and never came back.' Mrs. O'Connor called the house 'The Graenon', after the Irish word meaning 'sunny place.' It was one of the first homes to spring up near the banks of the North Saskatchewn River in what was then Edmonton's fashionable west end neighourhood. 'There wasn't much around for miles,' Peggy recalls. 'Just the James Ramsay residence and us.' Today, the structure still occupies two pie-shaped lots. It features an exterior of lower brick and upper stucco, gabled roof with dormer windows, a screen verandah, oak diamond latticed windows and oak panelling, flooring and overhead beams. Other significant elements include brass and crystal door knobs and swithces (imported from Austria) and two brick fireplaces - one in the living room and another in the library. Most evenings, that's where Peggy can be found - surrounded by rich oak bookcases where her father used to work. 'I love this room, ' she smiles. 'It is so warm and inviting. I used to be a reference librarian at the Rutherford Library and I suppose that's another reason I love it so much.' She recalls nights laying in bed in her room, listening to the music from the Glenora Skating and Tennis Club (later the Royal Glenora Club). And she laughs about adventures in the library. 'Sometimes, before we put a screen over the opening, bats used to fly down the chimney and into the room. That generated a lot of excitement.' But the house carries more than memories. It was the place J.J. Bowlen took his oath of allegiance to the Queen when he was Alberta's lieutenant-governor. As was customary for the time, the home was constructed with two staircases - a main one, and a back one, used by the maid. Elegant touches included a central vacuum system and intercom system. Eighty years on, the house remains virtually intact, except for the kitchen, which has been entirely remodelled. Originally, there was a wood and coal stove but, after natural gas came to Edmonton in 1923, it was replaced. A coal room is still visible in the concrete walled basement. Peggy left Edmonton during the Second World War, working for the British Intelligence Service in such far-flung locations as Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Haiti and New York. After the war, she married Gerald Farnell, a bomber pilot. The couple moved to Edmonton in 1952. Five years later, her father died and, when her mother passed on in 1966, the family of five (including three boys) moved into 'The Graenon'. Gerald passed away in 1987. Now, 'The Graenon' is protected against significant exterior alterations as a registered provincial historic resource. The protection extends to a porcelain cat perched on the apex of the roof. 'My mother and father bought it during a trip to Normandy in 1928,' Peggy recalls. 'I don't know who put it up there or how it is attached, but there it is. As Peggy noted in her 1984 OLD GLENORA, while the house's Irish name may be 'sunny place', the trees that were planted after it was built now tower over it, making it more a 'shady place'. Peggy's favourite trees include a poplar - 'it was already a large tree when the house was built, yet it's still hanging on' - and a glorious Dutch Elm. 'We used play right under that tree', she smiles, her eyes twinkling, happy memories flooding back. * * * This Old Glenora Mansion was constructed in 1914 from plans printed in THE LADIES HOME JOURNAL. Actual construction was undertaken by Morrison and Fairlie, local Edmonton contractor's, for George Bligh O'Connor, a prominent Edmonton lawyer. O'Connor had distiguished career in law and public service. In 1940 he was appointed to the Trial Division of the Supreme Court of Alberta and in 1950 he became Alberta's second Chief Justice. During World War II he was appointed Chairman of the Wartime Labour Relations Board by the Mackenzie King government. This Board would outlive the war and still operates as Canada's Labour Relations Board. Margaret O'Connor also worked briefly as one of the first women reporters in Alberta. She was a member of the Canadian Women's Press Club as early as 1913. Their daughter Peggy Farnell served during World War II with a branch of William Stevenson's security sevirces, and later as a librarian at the University of Alberta. She also has published a book on the history of the Glenora area. This large and gracious Glenora mansion reflects the wealth of Edmonton's pre-World War I professional and business elite, and is an interesting example of a variation on British Tudor house styles. * * * The O'Connor Farnell Residence (constructed in 1914) was one of the first two buildings constructed on St. George's Crescent in the Glenora district of Edmonton. The building has stayed in the same family since it was constructed and the current owner believes, because the house is architecturally significant and because her father was the second Chief Justice in the Province of Alberta, it merits designation as an historic resource. This fine home of approximately 375 square meters was costructed following a design published in a 1914 issue of Ladies Home Journal. It is a modified Tudor style of plan with a large entrance hall which contains a staircase to the second floor. The first floor is designed around the centrally located entrance hall and a smaller central hall running along the front to back axis of the building. It is divided into a den, library, living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and utility room. There is a smaller second staircase located in the south west corner of the building which was the access from the kitchen/pantry area on the first floor to the maid's quarters on the second floor. The second floor has five bedrooms and sun room off of the second floor room at the top of the large staircase. In addition there is a small hall off of this room which permits access to the bathroom and former maid's room. This home is basically a frame house layered on the exterior with stucco on the upper levels and brick veneer in a band around the lower level. It rests on a good board formed concrete foundation and is topped by a gable roof which is sheathed in the original cedar shingles and a layer of asphalt shingles. The roof creates an umbrage over the front of the building to enclose a screened porch and entrance space to the front door. This portion of the roof is supported by large round columns resting on shallow concrete footings. The interior is layered in lath and plaster, and in places wood wainscotting. The building is well appointed with dark stained oak and fir trim, doors and windows. It should be noted also that 'The Graenon' possesses lattice oak windows, and brass and crystal door knobs and light switches that were imported from Australia. 'The Graenon' is a building that was constructed and maintained at a high level which has resulted in its excellent current condition. A recent investigation revealed there is a need to improve the eaves trough system and improve the column base concrete footing. The building is square and plumb throughout with only hairline cracks evident in rare locations in the plaster. * * * THE GRAENON (1914) Early Glenora Home a 'Sunny Place' 'They say a house isn't a home until someone is born in it, married in it, and died in it. I guess this house qualifies according to that.' So mused Peggy O'Connor Farnell, author of the book Old Glenora, as she reminisced about her residence - The Graenon. Not only was Farnell born in the house, but her wedding reception was held there and her parents died there. Also, the late J.J. Bowlen took his oath of allegiance to the Queen in the house when he was Alberta's lieutenant governor. The Tudor Style brick and stucco house was built in 1914 by Farnell's father, George Bligh O'Connor, who became chief justice of the Alberta Supreme Court. Farnell said the home was named The Graenon by her mother Margaret after the Irish word meaning 'sunny place'. Yet as she noted in her book, 'The trees planted when the house was built now tower over (it), making the yard more of a shady place!' Glenora was largely bush when the house was built, Farnell recalled, and even by the 1920s there were only three homes on St. George's Crescent. Her father came to Edmonton in 1905, shortly after winning the silver medal and graduating from Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto. He later recalled that his voyage west was auspicious in that his prized silver medal was lost en route. Soon afterward, he began a law practice with William Greisbach, an association which lasted until 1940, when Greisbach left to take up duties with the army. Their partnership and friendship was somewhat of an anachronism, as Greisbach was a devoted Conservative and O'Connor a devoted Liberal. In fact, O'Connor was campaign manager in the 1911 and 1917 federal elections for Frank Oliver, publisher of The Edmonton Bulletin, who had been Minister of the Interior in Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier's government. Oliver's competitor for the seat was none other than Greisbach. O'Connor met his wife, a journalist from Kingston, Ontario in 1913. After their marriage, they lived in LeMarchand Mansion while The Graenon was built. Mrs. O'Connor later became a theatre critic with The Edmonton Bulletin. Before being named a judge in 1950, O'Connor was the first chairman of the Canadian Labor Relations Board as well as president of The Edmonton Bulletin. He died in 1957. The two-storey Graenon with three main bedrooms was built by Mrs. O'Connor's brother, W.A. Fairlie, and another man named Morrison. It incorporated a gabled roof with dormer windows, latticed windows, a screened verandah and oak panelling, flooring and overhead beams. Among its luxuries were central vacuum and intercom systems, neither of which is still in use. It had two stairwells, the rear one for use by servants as was customary at that time. Except for the kitchen which has been remodelled, the house remains as it was in 1914. Among the highlights are the living room and library, which integrate oak woodwork and flooring, as well as brick fireplaces. Farnell said the house is known to neighborhood children as the house with the cat on the roof, referring to a porcelain cat brought back from Normandy and installed by her mother in 1928.

Internal

Designation Status:	Designation Date:

Register:	A64

Links

Internet:
Alberta Register of Historic Places: