Description of Historic Place

The Staff Residence is a large steeply-gabled three-storey building, set back from the highway in a prominent location on the north side of Highway 3 just east of the Manning Park Lodge in E.C. Manning Park in southwestern British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Staff Residence is significant for its cultural and aesthetic values, particularly for its form and materials that blend traditional European alpine architecture and local pioneer-style construction techniques.

Constructed in 1950 and located adjacent to what was then the new Highway 3 (completed in 1949), the Staff Residence is an important reminder of the development of Manning Park as a major recreational destination following the opening of the new highway. Its physical stature and orientation to the highway help mark the area as a destination of consequence. Its setback from the highway lends the building an air of grandeur.

The size and substance of the Staff Residence is significant as evidence of the Province's long-term commitment to making E.C. Manning Park a major centre for outdoor recreation and interpretation for the general population at a time when 70% of the Province's population lived within a three-hour drive of the park. This required the allocation of considerable staff resources to run the extensive park construction, maintenance, and interpretive programs.

The Staff Residence is valued for its form, inspired by the grand rustic architecture of the buildings designed for the federal parks in the Rockies, and for its exterior materials and details including the rough wood siding with contrasting vertical patterning in the gable ends, and the massive stone chimney.

Source: Ministry of Environment, BC Parks

Character-Defining Elements

Key character-defining elements of the Staff Residence include:

Site:
-orientation to Highway 3
-setback from the highway
-clustering with the Ranger Station building

Building:
-complex gable roof form
-gabled dormers and wings facing Highway 3
-idiosyncratic clipped gable roof ends
-general wood board siding
-contrasting vertical board siding in gable ends
-small punched window openings
-original wood windows
-massive stone chimney