Municipal Heritage Site

Fowler House

Argyle, Manitoba

Primary elevations, from the southwest, of the Fowler House, Baldur, 2006

Primary elevations, from the southwest, of the Fowler House, Baldur, 2006

Photo: Historic Resouces Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, 2006

Built
1897
Recognized
2000
By
Local government

The register’s text, word for word

Description

Fowler House, completed in 1897, is a large brick dwelling in Baldur. The municipal designation applies to the two-storey building and its lot.

Heritage value

The stately Fowler House, with its eclectic Victorian architecture, is one of the oldest and most distinctive structures recalling Baldur's early history. Built for William Oliver Fowler, influential business leader, property owner and postmaster, the house has remained in Fowler family hands for more than a century. From its position on the village's main thoroughfare, the substantial brick-clad residence anchors the western end of a commercial avenue containing two other designated heritage buildings, one of which, the Fowler Block, was owned by William's son Alex.

SourceRural Municipality of Argyle By-law No. 6-2000, November 14, 2000

Character‑defining elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the Fowler House site include:

  • its location at the western end of Elizabeth Avenue in Baldur, the main business street, adjacent to commercial enterprises, including the Fowler Block and Thomas Poole Building
  • the building's north-south placement, moderately close to the sidewalk on a roomy well-treed lot

Key elements that define the building's eclectic exterior character include:

  • its large two-storey massing, based on a four-square design with a single-storey extension on the east side, with the walls clad with buff brick and featuring a single brick stringcourse encircling the house
  • the Italianate-style features, including the low pitched, truncated hipped roof with its wrought-iron railing on the widow's walk, wide wooden eaves supported by elaborately scrolled brackets, quoins at all corners, abundant tall rectangular windows with segmental brick arches and rusticated stone sills, etc.
  • the Gothic Revival-style features, including the central dormer of the main facade highlighted with intricate gingerbread trim
  • the side porch with its slightly sloping flat roof edged by a parapet with corbel tables
  • details such as the two brick chimneys, exterior balcony door, etc.

End of the register’s text

Location

111 Elizabeth Avenue East, Argyle, Manitoba, R0K, Canada

49.38426° N, 99.24153° W

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Being on the register doesn’t make a place open to visitors. Many are private homes or businesses; please view them from the street.

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