Description of Historic Place

The Conybeare Residence is a two-storey brick veneer and wood frame building located on four city lots on the southwest corner of 6th Avenue and 4th Street South, at the entrance to London Road Neighbourhood, the oldest residential community in Lethbridge.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Conybeare Residence lies in the fact that it is a rare example in Alberta of the Second Empire style of architecture and one of the oldest structures in Lethbridge. The building is also significant for its association with two leading public figures in late nineteenth century Lethbridge.

The building was constructed in 1892 and is unique in Lethbridge as an example of the Second Empire style, which originated in France during the reign of Napoleon III (1848-70) and became popular in North America in the 1860s-80s. Features of the Tennant Residence such as a patterned Mansard roof, segmental arches, and detailed brickwork present a relatively ornate design unlike the more utilitarian structures typical of Victorian Alberta. It was undoubtedly regarded as an elegant addition to the community, and would have been the venue of much upper class socializing.

The building is also significant for its association with two leading public figures of Lethbridge. Charles Frederick Pringle Conybeare, Crown Prosecutor, School Trustee and a founder of the Lethbridge Board of Trade, with his wife Ida Connybeare, owned the property between 1889 and 1894. Between 1894 and 1903 it was occupied by Charles A. Magrath, who as the Land Commissioner of the North West Coal & Navigation Company had undertaken the survey and subdivision of Lethbridge in 1885; was the first president of the Lethbridge Board of Trade, and, in 1890, the town’s first mayor; and represented the district in the North West Territorial Assembly and federal Parliament. The property was sold to Henry J. Tennant in 1898.

Finally, it played a significant role in the community as a Jewish synagogue and rabbi’s residence between 1918 and 1940, and then as a confectionery, notably the Regal Grocery from 1942 to 1987. Although small, it is a well-known landmark in the City of Lethbridge.

Source: Alberta Culture, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 1264)

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Conybeare Residence include:
- rectangular form, scale, and massing;
- features of the Second Empire architectural style such as: diamond-shaped pressed metal shingles on the concave Mansard roof, arched roof wall dormers, locally manufactured low-fired red bricks used in decorative segmental arches, double hung wood sash windows;
- single glazed front storefront window.

Original remaining elements and fittings of the interior of the building such as:
- the remaining original doors on the second floor;
- tongue and groove fir flooring on main and second level, and tongue and groove fir ceiling on second floor;
- decorative wood (fir) trim on window and door surrounds;
- second floor plan layout.