Description of Historic Place

2528 Retallack Street is a Municipal Heritage Property located in the historic Crescents area within the City of Regina. The property features a two-storey house, known as the Perrett Residence, which was constructed in 1910, faced with brick on the lower level and stucco-clad on the upper level.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 2528 Retallack Street resides in its association with a distinguished resident of Regina, Thomas Edwin Perrett. Born in Pembroke, Ontario in 1871, Perrett came west around 1891 after completing his university education. He taught school in Carberry, Manitoba, was a school Principal in Medicine Hat, and later inspector of schools for Calgary, Prince Albert and Edmonton in what was then known as the North-West Territories. Perrett joined the staff of Regina’s Normal School in 1904 and was appointed Principal two years later. After three years as Superintendent of Regina schools, he returned as Principal to the Normal School. Perrett enlisted in the army in 1915 and organized the Sixty-Eighth Battalion, which was largely composed of local men. Colonel Perrett led the unit in France until being wounded and permanently blinded. After treatment in England, he returned to Regina in 1918 and resumed his duties as Principal of the Normal School. In recognition of his war service, Colonel Perrett was awarded the Order of the British Empire and received this decoration from the Prince of Wales in Regina in October, 1919. Colonel Perrett retired from the Normal School in 1925 and continued to reside at 2528 Retallack until 1928, after which he left Regina.

The heritage value of the property also resides in its ststus as one of the earliest residential designs by the prominent Regina architects, Edgar Storey and William Van Egmond. The exterior design of the Perrett Residence is a restrained adaptation of the Queen Anne Revival style. The characteristic elements include a steeply-pitched pyramidal roof with small flat deck crowning the peak, asymmetrical and irregular front façade with bays and projections, large front porch, prominent, large front-facing gable, and brick first-storey walls which are contrasted with stucco and false half-timbering.

Heritage value also resides in the house's prominent location within the Crescents Area of Regina and its important contribution to establishing the historic architectural character of that neighbourhood. In 1905, Regina developer George Marsh purchased a block of land from the Canada North West Land Company and, by 1908, the area began to be subdivided. The following year, Judge Newlands purchased Block F and rolled part over to his brother-in-law, Thomas Perrett. Both houses were completed in 1910, when Retallack was extended south from 14th Avenue.

Source:

City of Regina Bylaw No.10048.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of 2528 Retallack Street lies in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which reflect a restrained adaptation of the Queen Anne Revival style, including a steeply-pitched pyramidal roof with small flat deck crowning the peak, asymmetrical and irregular front façade with bays and projections, large front porch, prominent large front-facing gable, and brick first-storey walls which are contrasted with stucco and false half-timbering;
-those elements which speak to the property’s prominent location within the Crescents area and to its association with the prominent Regina architectural firm of Storey and Van Egmond in establishing the region’s early architectural character, including its siting on its original location.