Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 20

Ranch Houses of the Alberta Foothills

by L. G. Thomas

Abstract

The architecture, furnishings and grounds of ranch houses of the Sheep Creek area of southern Alberta are described in this paper. Particular reference is made to Cottonwoods, reportedly the earliest frame house in the area, built by the Austin family in the early 1890s and sold to the writer's family in 1910. The Gate Ranch house, a log house built in successive stages like most log ranch houses of the area, is also discussed, as is the Viewfield Ranch house, built wholly of stone, the only house so constructed in the Sheep Creek area.

Submitted for publication, 1974, by L.G. Thomas, University of Alberta, Edmonton.