Description of Historic Place

The Donnenworth House consists of a single story wood frame building and the lot it sits on at 3126 Third Ave. between Wood Street and Steele Street in downtown Whitehorse, Yukon.

Heritage Value

The Donnenworth House is a municipal historic site designated for its architectural and historical values.

The house, constructed in 1905, was originally a small frame building with a hip roof and a framed canvas tent attached to the rear. The tent portion was later framed over with a gable roof. These features plus the steeply pitched roofs with wood shingles, minimal eaves over short walls, drop siding, wood frame windows and a simple floor plan were common features of early twentieth century builder-style houses in Whitehorse. The Donnenworth House is distinctive because it is one of the last Whitehorse buildings retaining its original canvas and frame materials.

From 1902 to 1945, the Donnenworth House was owned by the British Yukon Land Company, a subsidiary of White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR), the major employer in Whitehorse until World War II. The British Yukon Land Company surveyed the original town site and developed the street grid. The Donnenworth House was one of their oldest Whitehorse staff houses and was rented to various tenants.

Mr. William Donnenworth and his wife lived here from 1902 until 1921 while ¿Hobo Bill¿ Donnenworth was employed by WP&YR and its subsidiary, the British Yukon Navigation Company. Donnenworth was a stage coach driver on the Dawson-Whitehorse Overland Trail throughout the winter and a purser on the Yukon River sternwheelers during the summer. Mrs. Donnenworth operated a millinery shop from the front part of the house for several years. The proximity to the sidewalk and the central doorway, flanked by symmetrical double-hung windows embodies the mixed commercial/residential function of the building.

The Donnenworth House is in its original location and is now part of LePage Park, a landscaped public area containing three rehabilitated and municipally designated heritage buildings. The park and buildings are owned by the city. The City of Whitehorse and the current tenant of the Donnenworth House, the Yukon Historical & Museums Association, created the park to commemorate the LePage family. Mr. and Mrs. LePage were presented with the Transportation Pioneer Award and inducted into the Yukon Transportation Museum¿s Transportation Hall of Fame for their role in the development of the territory.

The LePage family was the last to use the Donnenworth House as a residence, living here from 1963 until 1978. Amy "Happy" LePage and his wife Pauline, operated a network of wood cutting camps along the Yukon River that supplied fuel for the steam-driven sternwheelers until the boats stopped running in the early 1950s. Happy then worked on bridge and air strip construction projects for the Yukon's developing transportation system. He also operated a regional trucking company and the first car wash in Whitehorse.

The building was rehabilitated as office space as part of Heritage Canada Foundation's Main Street Program in 1984. At this time an attached shed at the rear of the building was removed and an addition that includes a kitchen and bathroom facilities added. Donnenworth House continues to illustrate the historic commercial and residential use of the Steele Street area.

Sources: City of Whitehorse Heritage Advisory Committee Minutes, May 1999, City of Whitehorse Bylaw 99-41, Donnenworth House, File No. 3630 50 10 Historic Sites Unit, Cultural Services Branch, Yukon Government.

Character-Defining Elements

The key elements which define the heritage character of the Donnenworth House include:
- Form and materials
- Exterior architectural elements such as the fenestration, roofs and wood shingles, short walls, cladding, historic wood sashes and trim
- The location and siting of the building on its lot
- Minimal setback from the sidewalk and entrance at grade on the primary façade
- Remains of canvas tent sandwiched in the walls