Provincial Heritage Site

Paulencu House

Shellmouth-Boulton, Manitoba

Primary elevations, from the southeast, of Paulencu House, Inglis area, 2006

Primary elevations, from the southeast, of Paulencu House, Inglis area, 2006

Photo: Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage & Tourism, 2006

Built
1906
Recognized
1993
By
Province of Manitoba

The register’s text, word for word

Description

Paulencu House, completed in 1906, is a mud-plastered log building on a museum property near Inglis. The provincial designation applies to the 1 1/2-storey building and its grounds.

Heritage value

Paulencu

House is the last known example of a traditional Romanian-style farmhouse from Manitoba's settlement era. Its rectangular plan, vernacular design and log construction, brought from the Carpathian Mountain region of Eastern Europe, adeptly blend a distinctive aesthetic with pragmatic functions that extend beyond the need to provide sturdy, comfortable shelter. Beneath the high hipped roof is an attic smokehouse, while the wide overhanging eaves, resourcefully supported by flared log brackets, shade and protect the mud-plastered walls and also are equipped with poles from which to dry fresh produce. This fine pioneer residence, built by John and Mary Paulencu from Voloca, Romania, who settled in Manitoba in 1901, was once one of several similar dwellings on adjacent homesteads established by Romanian pioneers near the hamlet of Lennard. Relocated within the district and restored, the house now stands on a functioning church site as a highly visible symbol of its community's roots.

Source: Manitoba Heritage Council

Minutes, May 23, 1987

Character‑defining elements

Key exterior elements that define the vernacular Romanian character of the Paulencu

House include:

  • the 1 1/2-storey rectangular massing beneath a steeply pitched hip roof covered with

wooden shingles with wide eaves supported by exposed structural members

  • the walls of round logs with

overlapping saddle-notch joins and upper logs that extend progressively outward to form brackets under the eaves

  • the mud plaster finish, smoothly applied and whitewashed
  • the central entrance and simple

wraparound porch

  • the orderly fenestration, including front and side square windows in light-coloured

frames, with wide wood surrounds painted a dark contrasting colour, and eyebrow dormers on the front slope of the roof

  • details such as the short brick chimney, the poles under the eaves for hanging produce

to dry, etc.

Key elements that define the dwelling's interior heritage character include:

  • the

centre-entrance plan with rooms delineated by log partitions, including on the main floor a modest central area between the larger 'great room' and kitchen, and rooms above accessed by a narrow stairway

- the straightforward materials and finishes, including on the main floor plaster-covered walls, plank flooring and wood ceilings, and on the upper level a large open bedroom with walls and ceiling of pressed metal

  • the unfinished upper smokehouse with exposed structural members and a pole-like fixture
  • the

decorative elements in the 'great room,' including the icons placed according to tradition along the east wall, the etched cross, decorative symbols and construction date on the central ceiling beam, etc.

  • the period artifacts and details, including the kitchen stove, handmade cabinets, plain

board window surrounds, exposed stovepipe, etc.

End of the register’s text

Location

Shellmouth-Boulton, Manitoba, ROJ, Canada

50.99322° N, 101.27042° W

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Nearby

All 5 places in Shellmouth-Boulton

Similar places

Places whose register descriptions are closest to this one.

From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.