Landmark Building

ABERHART HOUSE

2505 -5 Street SW, Calgary
Built in 1927

This is the only private house in Alberta with the distinction of having been the home of two premiers. The "house on the brow of the hill" was built in 1927 for William and Jessie Aberhart. "Bible Bill" was a schoolteacher and principal who, in 1925, started the "Back to the Bible Hour", a popular radio program broadcast every Sunday from Calgary's Palace Theatre.

Aberhart's massive following, unorthodox religious tenets, and lack of theological training led to dissension at his place of worship, Westbourne Baptist Church. In October 1927 he opened the Calgary Prophetic Bible Institute, with an auditorium and broadcasting facilities. One of his first students was a young farm boy from Carnduff, Saskatchewan: Ernest Manning.

The basement of the Aberhart house featured a bedroom that could be entered from a side door. It was rented for a while to Eva Reid, a journalist, who recalled many "stimulating and provocative conversations" with the Aberharts and their pet, Polly the parrot. In 1931, the basement room was taken over by Ernest Manning, who became Aberhart's surrogate son, friend, and political collaborator.

A voracious reader with a photographic memory, Aberhart crammed his upstairs study with books on education, religion, law, politics, biography, and poetry. The green-shaded lamp often burned into the early hours as he dealt with massive quantities of reading, correspondence, lesson plans, and administrative details.

In 1932, as the Depression worsened, he became interested in Social Credit economic theories. With religious zeal and boundless energy, he set out to persuade the government to adopt these theories. When this did not happen, he used his superior organizing skills and charismatic oratorical ability to convince the public. By 1935 he was the first Social Credit premier of Alberta, with Manning as his most trusted cabinet minister.

After Aberhart became premier, he and Jessie moved into a two-room suite in the Macdonald Hotel in Edmonton, and spent their summers with their married daughters in Vancouver. When Aberhart died in 1943, the house was sold. Manning succeeded him as premier and also took over the "Back to the Bible Hour".

The house is an attractive and simple example of the Craftsman style. It has undergone several changes in ownership, and in the 1990s additions were made to the rear and part of the front verandah was enclosed.

The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Calgary Historical Walking Tour: Mission and Cliff Bungalow. Alberta Community Development and the City of Calgary, 2001., with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.