Description of Historic Place

The Edmonton Street Duplex, a 2 1/2-storey brick structure built in 1901, stands on a small lot in a busy mixed-use neighbourhood next to Central Park in downtown Winnipeg. The City of Winnipeg designation applies to the building on its footprint.

Heritage Value

The Edmonton Street Duplex, an exuberant late Victorian-era structure built for business partners Martin Hoover and Alfred Town, is one of the few residential buildings that still remain in a downtown Winnipeg neighbourhood once typified by its gracious homes. Designed by Johann Schwab, the dwelling, through its steeply pitched roofline, dominant front-facing gables, corner bay windows and remarkable variety of gingerbread trim, is a fine interpretation of Queen Anne Revival domestic architecture. It also is noted for its U-shaped plan to maximize natural lighting. Converted to rooming house use in the mid-1900s and now rehabilitated for commercial purposes, the picturesque duplex retains many of its original features and is a landmark in an area that has undergone significant redevelopment.

Source: City of Winnipeg Council Meeting Minutes, December 19, 1984

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the landmark character of the Edmonton Street Duplex site include:
- its location on the west side of Edmonton Street between Qu'Appelle and Ellice avenues, across from the Central Park Promenade and near the northern edge of downtown Winnipeg
- the dwelling's placement on a compact grassed lot with its primary facade facing east

Key exterior elements that define the duplex's residential character and Queen Anne Revival style include:
- the symmetrical form based on a U-shaped plan, 2 1/2-storeys in height, with brick walls on a raised stone foundation
- the picturesque qualities typified by a steeply pitched roofline that combines a central truncated hip roof with gable ends on all sides and a large, central front dormer with a gable-pyramidal roof
- the duplex features, including on the front main floor a pair of single doors with transoms and matching bay windows; also, two tall brick chimneys with drip mouldings on the north and south sides, etc.
- the one-storey open front verandah with heavy wood columns, a shallow hip roof, central pediment, wood balustrade and skirting
- the number and variety of openings, including the tall rectangular flat-headed windows on all sides, a rear light well, etc.
- the variety of materials and finishes, and the exuberant detail, including the buff-coloured brick finish contrasted with painted wood trim, the rusticated stone base and windowsills, elaborate brackets, sunburst motifs, scalloped shingles, mouldings, etc.

Key internal elements that define the duplex's design and function include:
- the spacious layout based on side-hall plans with large front rooms and grand open staircases to upper hallways and rooms
- features and finishes such as the richly detailed wood staircases with fine carved balustrades, the plain buff-coloured brick fireplaces, the solid wood front doors with panels of sunburst detailing carried through from the exterior, etc.