Contextual view from the road, Davidson-Wigg Cottage, Gimli 2013
Photo: Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Tourism, Culture, Heritage, Sport and Consumer Protection, 2014
- Built
- 1915
- Recognized
- 2012
- By
- Local government
The register’s text, word for word
Description
The Davidson/Wigg Cottage (1915) is a small, one-storey, frame building, raised slightly above the ground, with a wooden staircase to the front door and a later enclosed back porch addition at the rear. The side-gable roof is extended to cover the verandah at the front of the building, while the later back porch has a cross gable. The Davidson/Wigg cottage stands at #47 on the west side of North Lake Street in the Loni Beach area of Gimli, Manitoba.
The municipal designation applies to the lot and the buildings on it.
Heritage value
The Davidson/Wigg cottage is valued primarily as a well-preserved example of the type of summer cottage or cabin typically built in the Gimli area in the first half of the 20th century. This cottage is an early example, having been built in the first decade after the arrival of the railway in 1906 made the area a destination for Winnipeggers seeking a summer retreat. Like most such buildings, its window openings were originally screened, and could be shut against the weather with wooden shutters; also typically, many of the openings were glazed decades ago. The cottage has a high degree of interior and exterior physical integrity, and retains its original doors, hardware, windows and shutters.
Source: R.M. of Gimli By-laws No. 11-0023, 23 February 2012.
Character‑defining elements
Key elements that define the exterior heritage character of the Davidson/Wigg Cottage include:
-the overall modest size and massing, raised slightly off the ground and with a shingled, side gable roof and a verandah at the left front (southeast corner) and a bedroom at the right front under a shed roof
-the painted wood exterior: drop siding with cornerboards, skirting board and drip cap; wood-shingled gable ends
-the fenestration, with some original multi-paned wood windows, set individually or (in the verandah) in rows;
the simple wood window frames with angled exterior sills
Key elements that define the interior heritage character of the Davidson/Wigg Cottage include:
-the informal interior with simple woodwork
-the general division of the interior space into a main living room with small bedrooms on the north side and a kitchen to the rear
-the fir tongue-and-groove interior walls, and the not-full-height interior partitions
-the original fittings including the doors and hardware
-the mechanisms for opening and fastening the top-hinged windows in the verandah
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Davidson/Wigg Cottage site include:
-the grassy lot with mature trees
End of the register’s text
Location
47 North Lake Street, Gimli, Manitoba, R0C, Canada
50.64420° N, 96.98100° W
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Nearby
All 15 places in Gimli
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From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.