Description of Historic Place

The Cabin is a square, one-storey, rustic style log building stained dark brown with white trim, and has a medium-pitched gable roof that projects forward to cover an open porch along its front façade. Located at the Yoho Ranch in Yoho National Park, the Cabin originally served as the upper storey of the Natural Bridge Teahouse. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical value:
The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is associated with the National Parks Warden Service and the long-standing role of horses in the conduct of warden patrols in the mountain parks. A support facility for the Ya Ha Tinda ranch, the primary equestrian center for the National Parks since 1918, the Yoho Ranch is a self-contained, single function complex that provides summer pasturage and an operational base for the horses that are involved in warden patrols in Yoho National Park. The Yoho Ranch-Cabin, formerly the upper storey of the Natural Bridge Teahouse, is associated with the establishment of the Yoho Ranch as one of the original ensemble of permanent buildings relocated to the ranch in the early to mid-1950s. The Cabin is also associated with Slim Haugan, a well-known horse trainer in the western Parks Canada community.

Architectural value:
The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is a good example of rustic architecture. The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is a well-crafted building constructed of horizontal logs with saddle-notched corners, and features heavy log window and door surrounds, as well as roof purlins, rafters, and front porch supports and railings fashioned from peeled logs. The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is typical of the rustic detailing and high level of craftsmanship that was a hallmark of CPR backcountry cabins and teahouses built in the 1920s.

Environmental value:
An essential component of the Yoho Ranch and the first building visible upon entering the ranch, the Yoho Ranch-Cabin’s rustic design and materials reinforce the picturesque character of the ranch in its mountain park setting. The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is located on a level site on the eastern side of the ranch property bordered by mature native spruce trees, and it commands a view of the horse paddocks,
pasture, operational buildings and entrance gate. The Yoho Ranch-Cabin is a well-known visual landmark to local residents and to tourists traveling on the Trans Canada Highway.

Sources:
Edward Mills, Yoho Ranch, Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office Building Report 00-002; Cabin, Yoho Ranch, Yoho National Park, British Columbia. Heritage Character Statement 00-002.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Yoho Ranch-Cabin should be respected:

Its role as an illustration of the National Parks Warden Service and the long-standing role of horses in support of warden patrols in the mountain parks, is reflected in:
-the building’s rustic design which became part of the architectural character of Canada’s Rocky Mountain park facilities form the 1880s onwards.

Its rustic style, and high quality, local materials and indigenous building methods as manifested in:
-the simple, symmetrical and well-proportioned composition of this square building which features a medium-pitched gabled roof that projects forward to cover an open porch along its front façade;
-the use of natural, local materials such as the use of horizontal, peeled log wall construction, and the use of peeled logs for the construction of the roof purlins, rafters, front porch supports and railings;
-the heavy log window and door surrounds which are painted white; and,
-the well-executed rustic detailing such as the saddle-notched corners.

The manner in which the building reinforces the picturesque character of the mountain park setting as evidenced in:
-its scenic location in the Yoho Valley, adjacent to flat pasture land on one side and a tall stand of coniferous trees on the other;
-the compatibility of its natural materials and rustic design with the picturesque wilderness setting; and,
-its visual prominence owing to its location.