Description of Historic Place

The Armstrong Homestead is comprised of a large brick house and a fieldstone and wood barn erected in 1914 near Boissevain. The municipal designation applies to the two buildings and the grounds they occupy.

Heritage Value

The Armstrong Homestead, settled by George and Margaret Armstrong in the early 1880s, displays in a picturesque setting the types of substantial structures pioneer farm families were able to build in southwestern Manitoba as they became better established. In this case, the Armstrongs replaced earlier premises with a large four-square brick dwelling and a Southern Ontario-style barn, both set on a slight rise protected by an extensive shelter belt. One side of the barn's fieldstone main floor nestles into the hill to permit direct access to the timber-frame loft. The building styles reflect the Armstrongs' Ontario origins, while the materials, such as lumber milled at Morton's Sawmill at nearby Max Lake and stone taken from a Boissevain-area quarry, are local. Owned by the family for more than 80 years, this site also is strongly associated with the Armstrongs' son Roy, an auctioneer, businessman, farmer and musician.

Source: Rural Municipality of Morton By-law No. 95-07, September 7, 1995

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Armstrong Homestead site include:
- its location, south of Boissevain, with an access lane off Highway 10
- the placement of the buildings on a scenic rise sheltered by mature trees, with the barn set into the hillside to the northeast of the house

Key exterior elements that define the dwelling's substantial four-square design include:
- the box-like two-storey massing of the core volume under a medium-pitched hip roof
- the buff brick exterior on a sturdy stone foundation
- the utilitarian fenestration comprised of various rectangular openings in wood surrounds under segmental arches, including small basement windows
- the symmetrically expressed west elevation

Key interior elements that define the dwelling's heritage character include:
- the modified four-square plan with large rooms and high ceilings, highlighted on the main floor by the connected living room-sitting room along the west side
- finishes, materials and details such as the generous and decorative wood trim, the metal heating register on the second floor, etc.

Key exterior elements that define the barn's traditional Southern Ontario style include:
- the long two-storey-plus rectangular massing under a steep gable roof
- the use of materials distinguishing the structure's twin functions, with the main-floor stable defined by solid fieldstone walls and the upper loft by board and batten over a heavy post-and-beam timber frame
- the utilitarian accesses, including the stable's two at-grade doorways on the east side, the loft's wide sliding west door and its rectangular upper eastern opening for unloading hay
- the minimal fenestration, including a small horizontal rectangular window in the stable's southwest corner, etc.

Key elements that define the barn's interior character include:
- the stable layout with livestock stalls separated by a wide aisle and structural system of roughly worked wood posts, beams and planks
- the open loft space with more refined heavy post-and-beam construction, composed in distinctive Southern Ontario configurations