Description of Historic Place

The Superintendent’s Residence, situated on the only road that connects the town of Field to the Trans-Canada Highway, is a stuccoed, wood frame building designed in the Arts and Crafts style with rustic character. It features a steeply pitched hipped-roof, two large dormers with bellcast eaves, a massive fieldstone fireplace and a sun porch. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Superintendent’s Residence is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The construction of the Superintendent’s Residence is associated with the increasing orientation of Field as a National Park administration centre. It also illustrates the enhanced status of park superintendent’s in the National Parks system.

Architectural Value
The Superintendent’s Residence is a very good example of the domestic Arts and Crafts style from the early part of the 20th century, with rustic vernacular adaptations, characteristic of National Parks design. The combination of rough-finished stucco with woodwork and stone, reinforces the rustic, crafted character of the design. The steeply pitched roof, massive and irregularly placed chimney, leaded casement windows, and decoration based on stained wood, are consistent with the Arts and Crafts aesthetic.

Environmental Value
The historical relationship between the Superintendent’s Residence, the site, and its original access patterns has remained unchanged. Situated among other residences, the building reinforces the residential character of the streetscape, and forms a strong visual termination of Second Street against the foot of Mount Stephen. The residence is well known in the town of Field.

Sources: Edgar Tumak, Superintendent’s Residence, Field, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Federal Heritage Building Review Office Building Report, 91-052; Superintendent’s Residence, Field, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Heritage Character Statement, 91-052.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Superintendent’s Residence should be respected.

Its Arts and Craft style with rustic vernacular adaptations, for example:
-the irregular massing of the two-and-a-half storey form, domestic in scale, with a steeply pitched hipped-roof and massive, irregularly placed fieldstone chimney;
-the rectangular hipped-roof dormer and the bevelled dormer with bellcast eaves, as well as the repeated bellcast motif in the long sweep of the main roof extending over the sun room at the first floor level;
-the use of materials that include rough-finished stucco with woodwork, stone, wood shingles and fieldstone;
-the leaded casement windows;
-the decoration based on stained wood;
-the location of the staircase, fieldstone fireplace, and chimney seat, and their expression on the exterior;
-the surviving interior plan.

The manner is which the Superintendent’s Residence maintains an unchanged historical relationship to its site, and the manner in which it reinforces the residential character of the streetscape and is well known in the local area as evidenced by:
-the ongoing relationship of the building to its unchanged access patterns and site;
-the attractive Arts and Crafts design with rustic character that is compatible with the other residences and reinforces the residential character of the streetscape setting;
-the prominent scale and location of the building on a large size lot amongst other residential structures of modest scale which makes it a well known building in the area;
-the building’s importance among the residents of Field as the home of the senior park official.