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Nordin Farmstead

NE 28-16-1 E, Teulon, Manitoba, R0C, Canada

Formally Recognized: 1998/10/14

Primary elevations of the Nordin House, Teulon area, 2005; Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport, 2005
Primary Elevations of House
East elevation of the Nordin Farmstead, Teulon area, 2005; Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport, 2005
East Elevation of Farm
North elevation of the Milk House, Nordin Farmstead, Teulon area, 2005; Historic Resources Branch, Manitoba Culture, Heritage, Tourism and Sport, 2005
North Elevation of Milk House

Other Name(s)

Nordin Farmstead
Nordin Heritage Bed & Breakfast
Auberge patrimoniale de Nordin

Links and documents

Construction Date(s)

1919/01/01 to 1926/12/31

Listed on the Canadian Register: 2005/11/18

Statement of Significance

Description of Historic Place

The Nordin Farmstead, constructed in 1919-26, is located in a cloak of trees alongside a rural road near Teulon. The complex consists of a unique concrete and wood-frame house, large barn, milk house, blacksmith's shop and storage structures. The municipal designation applies to the house, barn, milk house and the grounds they occupy.

Heritage Value

The Nordin Farmstead is distinguished from typical early twentieth-century dairy farms in rural Manitoba by the unique features brought to it by its owner and builder, Swedish immigrant Per Olaf Nordin. A civil engineer, Nordin's interest in materiality and innovation led him to direct his family in constructing the house which features a basement and main floor of poured concrete and wood-frame second floor clad in wooden shingles. Nordin further distinguished the farmstead by building a looming barn with a fieldstone base. The farmstead was noted for its breeding of high-quality Ayrshire cattle, as well as its dairy operation which supplied milk to Teulon from the 1930s to 1967. With its central location the farmstead was a type of social `headquarters' for the surrounding Scandinavian community, with the house hosting a ladies' quilting room on the second floor and the barn serving as the site of many dances. The farmstead remains occupied by Nordin's descendants.

Source: Rural Municipality of Rockwood By-law No. 28/98, October 14, 1998

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the dwelling's vernacular heritage character and unique construction features include:
- the 2 1/2-storey box-like massing, based on a formal square plan, with a large gable and segmented pyramidal roof and broad overhanging eaves
- the basement and main-floor walls built of 25- to 33-centimetre-thick, poured-in-place concrete, and the upper levels of wood-frame construction clad in wooden shingles painted a historically accurate green
- the simple openings throughout comprised of rectangular and square windows, most double-hung, with main-floor windows featuring slightly protruding sills, including the bank of large windows in the porch
- the exterior details, including arched windows in the gable ends, finials along the roof ridge, etc.
- the main-floor interior's mostly intact configurations and 2.8-metre ceilings
- the intact, centrally located, second-floor quilting room
- interior details, finishes and furnishings such as maple and pine floors, metal heating grates, some original furniture, etc.

Key heritage elements that define the barn's imposing and functional character include:
- the massive main volume featuring a gambrel roof, solid fieldstone base and wood-frame upper storeys clad with horizontal wood siding
- the smaller wood-frame lean-to with a shed roof on one side
- the rectangular windows of six-over-six-pane sashes with smooth concrete lintels
- the variously sized doors tailored to the barn's operation
- interior features such as the longitudinal stable plan, complete with intact concrete floors, wooden post-and-beam construction, stalls, wood and metal troughs, etc.; also, the soaring fir members of the loft's plank framing

Key elements that characterize the utilitarian milk house include:
- its simple one-storey mass enclosed by a gable roof with exposed rafter ends and horizontal wood plank walls
- the square and rectangular windows with four-over-four-pane sashes
- the array of interior apparatus, including gridded wooden shelves for holding inverted milk bottles, a large concrete milk-cooling trough, etc.

Recognition

Jurisdiction

Manitoba

Recognition Authority

Local Governments (MB)

Recognition Statute

Manitoba Historic Resources Act

Recognition Type

Municipal Heritage Site

Recognition Date

1998/10/14

Historical Information

Significant Date(s)

n/a

Theme - Category and Type

Peopling the Land
Migration and Immigration

Function - Category and Type

Current

Commerce / Commercial Services
Hotel, Motel or Inn

Historic

Food Supply
Farm or Ranch

Architect / Designer

n/a

Builder

Per Olaf Nordin

Additional Information

Location of Supporting Documentation

RM of Rockwood 285 Main Street Box 902 Stonewall MB R0C 2Z0

Cross-Reference to Collection

Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier

M0171

Status

Published

Related Places

n/a

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