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Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 24
Second Empire Style in Canadian Architecture
by Christina Cameron and Janet Wright
Houses in the Prairies
In areas recorded by the Canadian Inventory of Historic Building, the
full-blown Second Empire style seems to have made little impact on the
Prairie provinces. This is not surprising if one considers that the
early development of these regions occurred in the 1880s with the
arrival of the railway, at a time when the popularity of the style was
on the wane in central and eastern Canada. By the time settlers were
able to build substantial dwellings, the Second Empire style had fallen
from fashion.
The exception to this general statement is the city of Winnipeg which
enjoyed a period of boom-town growth at the beginning of the 1880s. A
significant number of houses built during this period followed the
design principles of the Second Empire style. Although wall surfaces,
almost invariably of yellow brick, were plain by eastern standards,
details such as the tower feature and pavilion massing were derived from
Second Empire prototypes (Figs. 111-112). On rare occasions, designs for
residences of prominent citizens boasted an impressive scale and
opulence of decoration comparable to similar houses in Ontario (Fig.
113).
Following the pattern established in other provinces, examples of
Second Empire dwellings appeared in small developing towns along the
main Canadian Pacific Railway line. In Manitoba, houses from this early
phase of growth still survive in towns like Brandon (Fig. 114) and
Emerson (Fig. 115). In spite of their obvious simplicity, such houses
adopted certain Second Empire motifs like semicircular dormers and bay
windows that contribute to the three-dimensionality of the effect. In
Saskatchewan and Alberta, the Canadian Inventory of Historic Building
found rare examples of this style, usually located in small communities
along the railway line. These houses are frequently built of wood, the
most readily available construction material in the area (Fig. 116);
occasionally, however, stone is used, as in a fine example at Indian
Head, Saskatchewan (Fig. 117).
With the exception of the city of Winnipeg, Second Empire influence
in the Prairies was limited. The material of construction was typically
brick in Manitoba, wood in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Though towers,
mansard roofs and pavilion massing are often used, the designs are in
general characterized by simplicity and austerity.
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