Description of Historic Place

The W.M. Ashdown House is a two-storey brick-clad residence built in 1882 and situated mid-block in a mixed-use neighbourhood in Winnipeg's inner city. The City of Winnipeg designation applies to the building on its footprint.

Heritage Value

The W.M. Ashdown House is a good example of a vernacular brick residence from the 1880s, of which few survive in Winnipeg. The modest structure, a reduced, unadorned version of the Queen Anne Revival style, was built during the city's first major boom in one of the new residential areas that emerged outside the downtown core to accommodate rapid population growth. Originally owned and occupied by William Ashdown, brother of hardware magnate James H. Ashdown, the dwelling has retained much of its exterior and some of its interior integrity as well as the advantages of a large lot within an area generally characterized by higher-density development.

Source: City of Winnipeg Committee on Planning and Community Services Meeting Minutes, October 31, 1988

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of the W.M. Ashdown House site include:
- its location near the front of a large well-treed double lot, mid-block on the east side of Kate Street between William and Bannatyne avenues

Key exterior elements that define the dwelling's heritage character and reduced Queen Anne Revival style include:
- its L-shaped, two-storey mass with asymmetrical yet balanced facades
- the irregular and steeply pitched roof with a front gable and hip ends
- the monochromatic cream-coloured brick veneer, laid in a stretcher pattern, with raised brick quoins as a decorative element, resting on a cut-stone foundation
- the number, arrangement and variety of windows on all four sides, including a one-storey multi-paned bay window under the front gable and large and small rectangular windows, oriented vertically, with wooden sills, plain surrounds and flat-arched brick heads
- the tall narrow chimney on the east elevation rising above the roofline

Key interior elements that define the dwelling's heritage character include:
- the internal organization with a front offset hallway, living room, dining room and kitchen on the main floor and bedrooms on the second floor off a central hallway
- the elegant corner staircase with a wooden balustrade, twisted handrail and decorative scrollwork on the stair-ends
- the modest detailing, such as the crown moulding in the dining and living rooms, the deep wooden baseboards, wide wooden casings around window and door openings, metal radiators, etc.