Description of Historic Place

The 1910 Elaschuk House, a log-constructed dwelling with a thatched roof, is part of the Keystone Pioneer Museum complex near Roblin. The site's provincial designation applies to the house.

Heritage Value

The Elaschuk House is a rare and important Manitoba example of a Ukrainian vernacular-style residence possessing a traditional grass-thatched roof. The former farmhouse, characterized by a large hip-shaped roof and south-facing rectangular plan with a central door and three interior rooms, also is one of the province's best surviving examples of the Bukovynian regional style of Ukrainian folk architecture. Built by Metro Elaschuk almost entirely with natural materials obtained from the homestead, the dwelling was occupied and maintained by family members for over four decades. Restored for museum use by area residents, the log structure is a tribute to the family and the Ukrainian pioneer experience in Manitoba's Parkland region.

Source: Manitoba Heritage Council Minute, May 23, 1987

Character-Defining Elements

Key exterior elements that define the Ukrainian vernacular style of the Elaschuk House include:
- its basic unaltered rectangular-shaped plan and high hipped roof with deep eaves supported by exposed ceiling joists, rafter plates and tails
- the basic materials and finishes, including the log construction with notched joints stabilized by wooden pegs, the grass-thatched roof and the mud plaster walls
- the simple openings, including the single south-facing entrance with a wooden door, five rectangular-shaped windows with transoms on the south, east and west elevations, and three smaller fixed windows on the north side

Key internal elements that define the dwelling's heritage character include:
- the three-room plan with a large east room, central kitchen and small west room interconnected through doorways
- the unpretentious materials such as the mud-plastered perimeter and partition walls, ceilings with exposed logs, dirt floors, plain painted wood trim, exposed principal roof rafters and support members in the attic, etc.
- the hole in the kitchen ceiling, used to gain access to the attic and also to direct smoke from the stove through the thatched roof