Description of Historic Place

The fieldstone McConnell House, a large Victorian-style residence built in 1899, is a municipally designated site. It prominently occupies a corner lot at the western end of Morden's business core, where a number of substantial early homes were constructed and the area's residential character is still evident. The site's designation applies to the 2 1/2-storey dwelling and the generous grounds on which it sits.

Heritage Value

The McConnell House, a Queen Anne Revival-style fieldstone structure, exemplifies the substantial house-building tradition that characterized much of south-central Manitoba at the turn of the twentieth century. Largely constructed of split, roughly squared granite boulders, the house, with its complex floor plan, rounded forms and numerous openings, is a good illustration of this primary construction material and difficult masonry technique. The ambitious dwelling, built for Dr. B.J. McConnell, the first medical practitioner and a prominent businessman in Morden, is a landmark in the community.

Source: Town of Morden By-law No. 4-89, March 14, 1989

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the landmark character of the site include:
- placement of the house on a large treed corner lot and orientation of the large circular southwest corner tower and two principal facades to the street intersection

Key elements of the building's external heritage character include:
- its well-executed Queen Anne Revival styling, including the large circular corner tower with pressed tin sheathing on the uppermost level and patterned wood shingles on the conical roof; the multi-faceted roofline with gable dormers and chimney dormer; cedar shingling; the two-storey bay windows on the west facade; etc.
- the stonework, including walls constructed of cut fieldstone granite and foundation walls of unworked fieldstone; the cut and finished limestone corner quoins; arched lintels above the windows and doors; limestone window sills; small date stone located on the tower's second storey; etc.
- the variety of openings, including rectangular-shaped double-hung windows on the tower and four elevations; Palladian-style dormer windows; stained-glass transoms opening into the dining room and sitting room; etc.
- decorative features, such as wooden bracketed eaves, dormer bargeboards, gable and eave detailing and a finial on the tower roof, etc.

Key internal elements that define the typical Victorian character of the building include:
- the simple and efficient central-hall plan on the main floor, with the hall opening into the west-side parlour and sitting room and the east-side dining room and kitchen area
- the typical second-floor arrangement of a central landing opening into bedrooms and a rear music room, and stairs leading to a spacious attic
- features and details, such as the sitting room's oak-surround fireplace, with mirrored top and lower tiled inlay with imagery; original door and window mouldings and baseboards, all of oak; etc.