Quote:
Originally Posted by Polo Winnipeg
Nassau & River
The Tudor/ Crafstman blended style house holds some historic value, I recall reading somewhere hat it was designed by one of Winnipeg's more prominent architects during the turn of the century.
I could be wrong.
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An
Arthur Sullivan lived at 530 River (the house at the corner) in 1914. I've never heard of him, but looks like he was fairly prominent in the city's business community. Though this is not remarkable for this area of what's now Osborne Village. And I think it's safe to assume the most historic residences are long gone. I live in an Osborne Village high-rise that replaced the residence of Sir William Whyte when it was built in the late '60s, for example. The Nantons, the Campbells, the Galts, the Rosses, the Blacks... their impressive houses have been gone for decades.
The irony is, the more 'historic value' a residence has based on the way that heritage is currently evaluated in Winnipeg, the more prominent the occupant was, which meant they usually built on large lots close to the river, north of River Avenue (rather than on smaller, 33'-50' lots south of River. Decades later, the residential largesse of these prominent citizens made their old houses difficult to keep and the land easy to assemble and build tall on.
I don't cheer when I see old houses in the area taken down, but I don't exactly mourn, either (assuming they're not being replaced by parking lots or other garbage). Change is just an inevitable force. Many of Winnipeg's grand old houses were pulled down for walk-up apartments in the middle of the 20th century.
I don't know who designed 530 River, but the house next door (100 Nassau) was the home of
J.D. Atchison, who was a very busy architect in Winnipeg's boom years.