© 2024, Christian Cassidy
Source: Realtor.ca
One of Winnipeg's grand, old homes is up for sale for a cool $2.3 million. Here is a look back at its history and some of the people, three families in total, who have called it home over the past century.
June 5, 1929, Winnipeg Tribune
George Downey, a real estate developer, and W. P. Wallace, a well-known contractor, formed the Security Construction Company in 1929.
In its first summer of operation, the company it took out at least seven building permits for large homes including 57 Waterloo, 86 Wellington Crescent, and 1125 Wellington Crescent. This home was their largest building permit of the year at nearly $20,000.
The home is believed to have been designed by local architect John M. Simmons who was well-known in the late 1920s for his work on several city schools.
Security Construction concentrated its focus on large, exclusive homes for the next decade and remained in business until around 1951.
1931 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada
The first to call 1125 Wellington Crescent home was the Sellers family who moved here from Dromore Avenue.
Herbert Sellers was the western manager for Ogilvie Flour Mills. The 1931 census shows the rest of the family consisted of his wife Louise and daughters Flora, Marion, Lois (it is misspelled in the census record), and Mary, who ranged in age from 15 to 26. A domestic servant, 20-year-old Ukrainian Mandey Sopby, also lived with them.
Despite Mr. Sellers' high profile job, it was Mrs. Sellers who was constantly in the newspaper.
The first reception she held at the new home was a silver tea on November 22, 1929 was to raise money for the Christmas fund of First Presbyterian Church on Canora Street. Over the next several months there were teas almost
every week to introduce young ladies to society or to celebrate a new
bride-to-be.
Mrs. Sellers wasn't just a socialite, she used her status and the home to host meetings or raise funds for dozens of charities and causes. She was a long-time executive member of the Women's Committee of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Central Council of Social Agencies, the Women's Club of Winnipeg, and the Ladies Aid Society of First Presbyterian Church.
One of her proudest moments at the house, no doubt, was hosting the wedding ceremony of her daughter Marion in August 1933. A lavish reception was held for the newlywed couple in late September after they returned from their honeymoon.
November 14, 1933, Winnipeg Tribune
Sadly, that would be one of the last large social functions at the house by Mrs. Sellers. She caught a cold in early November 1933 that developed into pneumonia and died on November 12, 1933 at the age of 56.
The Winnipeg Tribune reported at the time of her death, "...the death of Mrs Sellers on Sunday came as a shock to her friends and hundreds who have benefited by her charity work.... No woman in Winnipeg is more well known or more dearly beloved than Mrs. Sellers...."
Many organisations paid tribute to Mrs. Sellers in the weeks following her death. First Presbyterian Church, which had a half-hour broadcast on CKY radio every Sunday morning, dedicated an episode to speak about her life and work. It also dedicated its new pipe organ installed the following year to her memory.
A much more sombre wedding took place in June 1934 for Flora Sellers. A Winnipeg Tribune social column noted that "the marriage will take place quietly at the family residence."
The Sellers family continued to live at 1125 Wellington Crescent until 1940.
John A. MacAulay in 1963
After hiring Frank Lount to do $1,000 in alterations to the house, the MacAulays moved there in 1941.
The family consisted of John A. MacAulay, a partner in Aikins MacAulay
law firm, his wife Phyllis McPherson and their children Carol and
Blair. Initially, John's sister Elizabeth, principal of Argyle School, also lived at the house.
Born in Morden, Manitoba, MacAulay received both a law degree and arts degree from the University of Manitoba in 1918 while serving in World War I. He then joined the legal firm run by James Aikins which became known as Aikins MacAulay Thorvaldson and remained a partner until his death.
MacAulay was a long-time supporter of the International Red Cross.
In 1939, as the Second World War started, he was asked to volunteer on the local committee and became the provincial chair in 1945. He became national chair in 1950 and international chair from 1957 to 1964. The latter involved a great deal of travel and he is said to have visited at least 42 countries, many with Phyllis at his side.
When the organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963, he and Phyllis went to Oslo in December to accept the award on its behalf. The prize money and medal obviously remained the property of the Red Cross, though this February 1964 image from the Winnipeg Tribune archives suggests that the medal may have come to Winnipeg for a time.
Macaulay received the Order of Canada in 1967 for his service to the Red Cross and in 2015 was posthumously awarded a Red Cross Legacy Award.
The MacAulays enjoy a sculpture on their grounds before a public tour in 1961
(Tribune Personality Collection, U of M Archives)
The MacAulays were avid art collectors and supporters of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Mr. MacAulay served as the WAG's president from 1950 to 1978 and oversaw its move from the civic auditorium to its signature building on Osborne Street.
The couple held numerous teas and tours of their house to show off some of their impressive collection and raise money for the Art Gallery's volunteer committee.
When Princess Margaret and her husband Lord Snowdon came to Winnipeg in September 1971 on a
Royal tour there was a 45 minute stop at the house. This was likely to see the art collection as the couple were here to officially open the new Winnipeg Art Gallery building. (Construction of the building fell behind schedule and after the official opening it was closed again until it opened to the public in January 1972.)
After MacAulay's death in November 1978, there was one final open house to show off as much of the art as possible in August 1979. The works included a Van Gogh, three Renoirs, a Gauguin, a Rodin painting
and sculpture, a Degas, and three Emily Carrs. They also had an extensive collection of sculptures. Some of these works became part of the WAG's collection.
December 16, 1944, Winnipeg Tribune
When Phyllis McPherson married John MacAulay in 1928 she was already making a name for herself in music circles as a mezzo-soprano / contralto.
In the 1930s and 40s, she appeared as a soloist at various concerts and productions staged by organisations such as the Winnipeg Music Club and Winnipeg Philharmonic Orchestra. Several of her performances were carried on local CKY and CBC radio stations, some were even broadcast nationally.
Phyllis moved from the house the year after her husband's death. She died in June 1999 at the age of 93. Her obituary noted that she had a "long and happy life."
Source: Realtor.ca
According to a Winnipeg Free Press story about the final art show
at the house in August 1979, the next owners of 1125 Wellington Crescent, James and Judy Fields, moved in later that summer. James was chairman and CEO of Brooks Equipment Ltd., a heavy machinery dealer covering Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
According to the for current sale listing, 1125 Wellington Crescent has had the same owners since 1979.
Related:
Video tour of 1125 Wellington
Sale listing for 1125 Wellington
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