Description of Historic Place

The wood-frame Demonstration Farm House, completed in 1915, is a 2 1/2-storey single-family dwelling isolated behind mature trees on the outskirts of Killarney. The municipal designation applies to the building and its grounds.

Heritage Value

The Demonstration Farm House at Killarney is a rare surviving link to an early phase in the Manitoba government's efforts in agricultural research and education. The structure housed the manager of an agricultural demonstration facility established when George Lawrence, a Killarney pioneer, was Manitoba's minister of agriculture. The purpose was to identify and promote farming practices and crop varieties suited to this particular region of the province. The large dwelling, with its prominent dormers and wide shady verandah, is a fine example of the typical four-square farmhouses built across southern Manitoba in the early 1900s. Although subject to various uses since the demonstration farm was closed in 1946, including as a Royal Canadian Mounted Police barracks, a private school and a museum, the house retains much of its exterior integrity and interior layout and character.

Source: Town of Killarney By-law No. 15-1991, February 10, 1992

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Demonstration Farm House site include:
- its location on the southern outskirts of Killarney, secluded behind mature trees at the end of a long tree-lined lane and its placement, facing west, with a circular driveway to the north

Key elements that define the dwelling's modest four-square design include:
- its tall 2 1/2-storey massing, square, with a wide wraparound verandah and a summer kitchen extension on the east side topped with a sun porch
- the hipped roof with gable dormers on the front (west) and north sides featuring windows with narrow panes aligned vertically
- the spacious platform-style verandah extending along the front facade and halfway down each side, with the wooden floor and wide steps set on granite pedestals and the roof supported by square, slightly tapered, white-painted wooden columns with contrasting wood bases and capitals
- the orderly fenestration with wide, symmetrically placed, double-hung windows augmented by a triple opening in a shallow bay on the south side, smaller second-floor openings in the centre of the north and west sides and rows of windows on all sides of the sun porch
- materials and finishes such as the narrow shiplap siding painted white with dark contrasting trim, the wood shingles, the foundation masonry of large rough-cut blocks of granite and the tall brick chimney

Key elements that define the heritage character of the building's interior include:
- the centre-hall plan with a moderately wide hallway offering access to four spacious, high-ceilinged main-floor rooms and a staircase
- the second-floor layout featuring four modest bedrooms around a central hall, with the spacious sun porch off a bedroom on the east side
- finishing materials and fixtures such as the wood flooring and radiators throughout, the wood doors, baseboards, window casings and trim, the modest fireplace in the living room, etc.
- details on the main floor such as the built-in china cabinet with glass doors in the dining room, the wood-panelled storage closet in the summer kitchen and the wide pocket door between the entrance hall and living room