A Tale of Two (Second Empire) Houses

A house that has always intrigued me is 524 Balmoral Street, just south of Sargent Avenue.

It is not as grand in scale as nearby homes on Young or the grand brick structures facing Central Park. Still, there's something about this cozy house with the mansard roof and dormer windows that I have always liked.

Second Empire architecture is pretty rare in Manitoba. It was brought initially by transplanted Ontarians as the style had been popular there for decades. It was falling out of favour by the 1880's, though, so the shelf life here was brief.

According to the Winnipeg Assessment Map this 904 sq ft home was built in 1886.

With growing commercial development crowding out the original residential neighbourhood on the west side of the Exchange District, housing had to push further west as much of the land to the south was still HBC property.

Central Park was a patch of boggy land bought and filled in by the city 1893 to provide a buffer to the hustle and bustle of the Exchange. Almost immediately an exclusive neighbourhood sprang up around the park.

Researching 524 Balmoral is a bit difficult. Henderson Directories for the time show that until 1890 the handful of houses that existed on Balmoral from Portage to Sargent didn't have house numbers so it's hard to say who the house was built for.

There is a more celebrated Second Empire home, though, built a few months after 524 Balmoral that gives some insight into the area.

Kerr House on Qu'Appelle (Historic Buildings Report)

Kerr House now on Assiniboine

Kerr House , I wrote about here, was built for Francis Kerr and family. He was the first principal of Carlton School and neighbours on Qu'Appelle included the likes of James H. McCarthy, Winnipeg's first chief librarian, and businessman / MLA Thomas Kellett.

Threatened with demolition in the 1980's to make way for Sister Macnamara School, Kerr House was researched and written about then eventually purchased and moved to Assiniboine Avenue where it sits today. A main reason for saving it was that it was one of the few remaining Second Empire homes in the West. The almost identical 524 Balmoral, however, received little attention.

Number 524 Balmoral had difficulty attracting a stable first owner and it changed hands many times, that or it was a rental property for long periods.

The first listing in Henderson's directories for 524 Balmoral was 1891 showing E.C. Beavis, an accountant who was new to town. Two years later there was E.J. Brown, a flour and feed mill worker. In 1895 James Jackson, a bridge builder and carpenter stayed until 1904 giving the home some stability. After he left, though, the short term ownership continued: 1905 Walter Brown (traveling salesman); 1907 Eugene A. Holston of Holston Sash, Doors and Millwork on Henry St; 1911 David Bradshaw, a druggist at 493 Notre Dame; 1913 Gary Nix, city licensing inspector; 1916 Archibald McKinley; 1919 Clement J Parsons, city foreman.

It was not until 1920 that we find a long term owner: Otto Boutlier, a blacksmith and welder, initially with the firm Boutlier and Richardson. He (and presumably a family) would remain listed at 524 until 1944.

The following year another long-term owner took possession: the Mencini Family. Patrick Mencini was an employee of International Harvester at 404 Ross. Patrick, wife Antonia and son Frank, lived there until at least 1960. An interesting aside, the Mencinis, seen above in their 50th wedding anniversary photo (WFP April 1, 1978), had a double wedding: her twin sister married his brother at the same ceremony !

Mrs. Mencini was nice enough to give the Tribune a tour of the house for their feature "Stories Houses Tell" in 1945 and we find a bit about what the inside looked like.

While 524 may have had a revolving door of owners, the neighbouring house at 520 Balmoral, (it's the empty gap between the two houses in the photo above), housed post office worker Robert Miller, wife Catherine and seven children beginning in 1888 until his death in the mid 1930's. She remained there until 1942 !

A few years back it seemed that 524 was getting some much needed TLC when new dormer windows were installed. There were also signs of people living in it. A view of the rear of the house, though, indicates that it may now be empty. That's too bad. It's truly a little gem !