Feature Article

OLIVER'S STATELY HOMES

Written By: Lawrence Herzog
Published By: Real Estate Weekly
Article © Copyright Lawrence Herzog
2006-12-21

The Hill Houses - 9720, 9716, 9712 - 111 Street. Photo by James Tennant.

One hundred years ago, Edmonton was in the midst of its first great boom of the 20th century. As is happening these days, hundreds of newcomers were pouring in every month, and the demand was enormous for housing and services.

The area we now call Oliver was then known as the West End, and it was where many affluent citizens chose as the location for the new elegant homes. From the lip of the river valley and along Avenues like Victoria (100th), huge homes began to dot the landscape.

In the first dozen years of the 20th century, the West End solidified its position as one of Edmonton's most prestigious residential areas. While millionaires perched their mansions prominently overlooking the valley, middle class houses and workmen's bungalows filled the streets and avenues behind them.

The Mountafield, 9850 112th Street

Designed by architect V. E. Wize and built in 1905, The Mountafield was one of Oliver's first permanent houses. Named for Henry Mountafield, this house boasts a number of unique features including a mansard roof (common in Eastern Canada but rather rare in the West), a four columned front porch and an unusual centre window on the second floor topped by a pediment dormer with a fanlight.

Mountafield was born in England in 1867, attended Portsmouth Naval Academy and obtained a Master's Degree from the London School of Arts. The next eight years of his life were spent in Japan before heading to the Yukon Gold Rush.

After spending five years in the Canadian North, Mountafield moved to Edmonton, where he was appointed City Auditor in 1905. He turned his attention to real estate and, when war broke out in 1914, he enlisted and served with the 19th Alberta Dragoons. Mountafield died at the age of 71 in July 1938.

Victoria Avenue Residences - 11215, 11219, 11223, 11229 100th Avenue

Constructed between 1907 and 1913, the large and elegant houses along this stretch of what was called Victoria Avenue were homes for doctors, lawyers, bankers and managers. Originally the three most westerly homes were part of a single parcel of land divided into three lots. The houses were most likely constructed by William Allen in 1907 and 1908. All three structures share two-storey Four Square architecture, with verandahs, hip roofs and dormers.

The Weinlos/Friedman Residence at 11219 100 Ave was purchased by Eisig (Issac) and Lea Weinlos in 1926 and remained in their family until 1982. Their son Morris became Chief of Staff at the Misericordia Hospital and established the Weinlos Clinic. A part of Millwoods and an Edmonton school have been named in honour of the Weinlos family.

The house at 11229, recently the Convent of the Saint Vincent de Paul Sisters of Charity, was home to Robert and Nellie McClung between 1915 and 1918. Nellie was a famous early women's rights activist, part of the temperance movement and a Liberal MLA from 1921 to 1926. She went on to become a Canadian representative to the League of Nations and the first woman to sit on the board of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Constructed in 1912-1913, the Charles Barry Residence (11215) was built in the Tudor Revival style. The woodwork resembles half timbering in the apex of the two-storey gable which dominates the front facade. The exterior is stucco with additional Tudor detailing visible in the multi-pane windows in the front door, the upper sashes of the bow windows, and other smaller sashes.

The North Side 99th Avenue Homes 11212, 11210, 11208, 11204, 11202 99th Avenue

The North Side 99th Avenue residences once stood on a single parcel which was divided in 1907. They were all built that year, making them among the earliest in the district. Located on the north side of what was then McKay Avenue between 112th and 113th Streets, these five residences were all two stories, constructed of brick.

They featured two-storey bow windows, topped off by centre gables and second storey balconies above first floor porches. Nearly 100 years on, they have retained many of their original similarities, even though they have been extensively altered over time.

The Hill Houses - 9720, 9716, 9712, 111th Street

These three homes now appear only somewhat similar, but when they were built in 1909 and 1910, they were identical. Located on the crest of the hill at Denver Avenue (97th Avenue) and 111th Street, the houses were originally clad in red brick with contrasting stone string corners, window sills and lintels. The two-and-a-half storey structures boasted second storey balconies and front entrance porches, now obscured.

The Mackay Residence at 9720 was owned for over four decades by the Mackay family -- first Mrs. Jane Mackay and then Miss Ethel Mackay. Dr. W. M. Mackay, Jane's husband, was one of the first permanent doctors in the Canadian west.

He was born in Scotland in 1836, became a doctor in 1859 and was hired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1864. He was taught by such medical pioneers as James Lister, who revolutionized surgical survival rates with the discovery of antisepsis (and whose name still graces a famous mouthwash.

The Dubuc Residence, 11302 100th Avenue

Built by a Belgian contractor in 1912, this two-storey brick house was occupied by Judge Lucien Dubuc from 1912 until 1956. The residence featured solid masonry construction two bricks deep and a second storey balcony.

Lucien Dubuc was the son of Manitoba Chief Justice Sir Joseph Dubuc and he arrived in Edmonton to practice law at the turn of the century. By 1920 he had been appointed to the district court bench the beginning of a career that culminated in his appointment as Chief Justice of northern Alberta. He became the first judge in Alberta to allow proceedings in French in 1924.

The Kirkhaven, 11229 99th Avenue

The Kirkhaven was built in 1907, making it one of the earliest homes in the district. It is a typical Edwardian wood frame house, with two storeys, an offset gable dormer, shutters and clapboard styling.

With the popularization of suburbs and mass exodus from the inner city after the Second World War, conversion of larger homes to apartments became common practice in Oliver. The Kirkhaven was one of those converted during this time.

There are many other significant Oliver residences constructed in the early part of the 20th century. They include the Cornelius Gallagher House at 9902 111th Street, built by Gallagher, mayor of Edmonton in 1896 and owner of the Hardstone Brick Company and the Gallagher-Hull Meat Packing Co. in what is now Cloverdale.

Mansions owned by the Shaw family, the York family and the McGavin family (of bakery fame) were also located in Oliver.