Description of Historic Place

The McCurdy (Truman-Heinz) Building is a Municipal Heritage Property occupying two lots on the corner of Windover Avenue and Ellice Street in the Town of Moosomin. The property features a 2½-storey, stucco-clad brick house constructed in 1907.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the McCurdy (Truman-Heinz) Building resides in its association with Victor Charles McCurdy, a prominent past resident of Moosomin. Arriving in 1882, the McCurdy family were among Moosomin’s first settlers. Victor’s father John opened a blacksmith shop and, for a time, operated one of the largest foundries on the Prairies. Victor would also become a prominent businessman in the town as the owner of farm implement and automobile dealerships. Both father and son are remembered for their many contributions to community life. The elder McCurdy was elected the third mayor of Moosomin in 1893, and eventually served six terms. Victor was also a multi-term mayor, as well as Chief of the volunteer fire brigade and a member of the Board of the Moosomin Hospital Company. He was active in church affairs and fraternal lodges, and was an accomplished sportsman. In 1907, Victor built this substantial 2½-storey home on the corner of a block owned by his father. Occupied by Victor and his family until the 1950s, the house hosted many community meetings and social gatherings over the years.

Further heritage value lies in the building’s architecture. The front verandah, the second-floor sun porch supported by columns and detailed with pilasters and fish-scale shingles, the symmetrically-placed windows, and the projecting bay topped by a barge board-trimmed gable all contribute to the stateliness of the house. Sited prominently on its corner lot, the McCurdy house is one of several historic residences that grace the Windover Avenue streetscape.

Source:

Town of Moosomin Bylaw No. 2005-04.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the McCurdy (Truman-Heinz) Building resides in the following character-defining elements:
-elements that speak to the property’s association with the McCurdy family, including the house’s original location on its prominent double corner lot; the main floor great room; the spacious attic; and period materials and features, such as its brick construction and fieldstone foundation, the stained glass in the attic window, hardwood floors, and original mouldings and doors, including the etched stained glass in the door to the second-floor sun porch and the front door with leaded bevelled glass;
-elements that contribute to the house’s distinctive architecture, including its form and massing; hip roof; projecting front bay with barge board-trimmed gable; the front verandah; the second-floor sun porch with column supports, pilasters and fish-scale shingles; and the symmetrically placed, curve-topped window openings.