Description of Historic Place
The John and Olive Diefenbaker Museum National Historic Site of Canada is an L-shaped two-storey residence located on a large lot in an older, well-established residential neighbourhood in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. A modest example of Tudor Revival architecture, it has a steeply-pitched gable roof with three dormer windows on the front elevation. The formal recognition applies to the residence on its municipal property lot.
Heritage Value
The John and Olive Diefenbaker Museum was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 2017. It is recognized because:
• built circa 1912, this two-storey home was the residence of John Diefenbaker from 1947 to 1957, the years in which he served as the Member of Parliament for Prince Albert, the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, and in 1957, when he became Prime Minister;
• Diefenbaker was widely known as “the man from Prince Albert,” and this home speaks to the close association between Diefenbaker and this city as well as to his persona as man of the people;
• donated by Diefenbaker to the City of Prince Albert in 1975 to serve as a museum, this home now communicates Diefenbaker’s legacy to Canadians.
Diefenbaker purchased the home in 1947. In the decade in which he and his first wife, Edna, and his second wife, Olive, called this residence home, Diefenbaker fought to become the Member of Parliament for Prince Albert, then the Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, and then, in 1957, Prime Minister of Canada. After 1957, Diefenbaker retained ownership of the home but rented it out while he lived in Ottawa. In 1975, he donated it to the City of Prince Albert to serve as a museum, and it opened to the public in this capacity in 1983. Today, the museum interprets Diefenbaker’s public and private life, his connection to the City of Prince Albert, and his legacy to Canadians. The residence’s interior and exterior retain many features original to the time when Diefenbaker lived here. Most of the rooms have been set in 1950s style, to appear as the home did during Diefenbaker’s residency here.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, December 2015.
Character-Defining Elements
The key elements that contribute to the heritage character of this site include:
- its location on a large lot within a quiet residential neighbourhood;
- its original L-shaped two-storey form and modest Tudor Revival architecture, with its half-timbering on the second storey, steeply-pitched gable roof, centralized primary entrance, and symmetrical front elevation;
- the interior layout of the home, which reflects how it was during Diefenbaker’s residency;
- original interior elements from the 1950s including wallpaper, built-in shelving, mouldings, staircases, radiators, fixtures, fittings, trims, baseboards, flooring, and decorative wall elements, which together lend the building the appearance of a 1950s home;
- features that speak to the building’s longtime role as a museum: Diefenbaker’s personal artifacts and furnishings (some not original to the home but moved from Diefenbaker’s Ottawa residence), as well as exhibit cases installed in the dining room, hallways, upstairs bedrooms, and sunroom.
