Description of Historic Place

269 Leopold Crescent is a Municipal Heritage Property located on two civic lots in the historic Crescents Area within the City of Regina. The property constructed in 1914, features a 2½-storey house faced with stucco and brick, with a prominent front dormer window.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of 269 Leopold Crescent resides in its Classical Revival architectural style. Classical Revival influences include the columned porch with segmental hood and the Tuscan columns outlining the side porches. Other notable features include an elliptical window with keystones on the front façade which provides light to the half-bathroom in the master bedroom, and brackets under the roof which resemble simplified platelets. The east elevation has Palladian influences in its tiered massing of porticos which enclose the verandah and sun room. The living room features a modified oriel window.

Heritage value also resides in the property’s association with several prominent residents. The residence was designed in 1914 by prominent Regina architects William Van Egmond and Stan Storey for Dr. John W. Mahan, Vice-President of Provincial Securities Co. Ltd. Mahan was born in Ontario and practiced medicine there and in Fillmore, Saskatchewan, where he also raised thoroughbred and standard horses. He retired from medicine and moved to Regina to become a manager at Sterling Trust. He was also president of the Regina Conservative Association, treasurer of the Provincial Conservative Association, and president of Regina’s Assiniboia Club. Mahan ran unsuccessfully as a Unionist nominee for the coalition government formed in 1917 by Prime Minister Robert Borden. The Mahan family moved to Vancouver in 1919 and John H. Heffernan purchased the house. Heffernan was born in 1864 in Portsmouth, England and joined the North West Mounted Police around 1890. Heffernan was Aide-de-Camp to the Lt. Governor in 1912 and retired from the police force in 1914. He was a Magistrate for the Regina City Police for 16 years and became Police Commissioner in 1923. Heffernan died at Regina on June 30, 1934. Mrs. Heffernan continued to reside at 269 Leopold Crescent until 1947. Other notable residents included Duncan D. Grosch, Manager of the Northern Trust Company, Dr. H.A. Hengen, a surgeon, and Clayton R. Johnson, a city solicitor and later magistrate.

The heritage value of the property also resides in its location along an historic streetscape within the Crescents area. Many homes along Leopold Crescent were designed by prominent architects and the streetscape retains the character that made it a fashionable location since the early part of the twentieth century.

Source:

City of Regina Bylaw No. 7761-HR-B84.

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of 269 Leopold Crescent lies in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements which reflect the Classical Revival style, such as the columned porch with segmental hood, the Tuscan columns outlining the side porches, and the elliptical window on the south façade, the brackets under the roof, the modified oriel window in the living room, and the tiered massing of porticos which enclose the verandah and sun room;
-those elements that reflect the property’s association with John W. Mahan and John Heffernan, and the property’s location along an historic streetscape within the Crescents area, including its location on its original position.