Historic Durrand Residence offers special piece of Edmonton’s past

It’s a piece of Edmonton’s history that more than 100 years later still looks and feels like it did — or very close to it — when its first residents moved in.

The Durrand Residence, at 3,069 square feet, brings you back to the early 1900s with features and workmanship that even a century later still leaves one impressed: remarkable dark wood panelling, plaster walls and cast iron radiators with exterior detailing that gives them an artistic as opposed to utilitarian flair. These and other features greet you in this larger than life living example of this city’s past taste and style in residential homes.

Lovingly restored over a three-year period by its current owner, this University District home built in 1913 is up for sale and is currently listed at $2.5 million.

The homeowner who did the restoration, said real estate agent Ryan Debler of Sotheby’s International, is looking for someone who ideally would love this home as she has. But Debler noted it has been a long time since anyone has actually used this residence as a home and it’s currently being utilized by some professionals as their place of business. This house, noted Debler, could easily become home to a family as it first was when George Durrand had it built or it could still be used to house professionals.

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Back In Time

Walk into the Durrand Residence and the entry is grand. Everything is either original, restored or brought back to as close as possible to what was first installed.

Even the floors — the original hardwood — make you feel at home with the odd creak to let you know this is the real deal.

Off the entry, on one side is a parlour — a term you don’t hear often these days. While that sitting room is enticing and set up more like a den, an even larger living room, or double parlour as the owner referred to it, is on the other side that opens up into the second room, this one with custom shelving and a restored fireplace.

Another thing you wouldn’t expect is a coat room, original to the home and just a little further down the main hall.

Unfortunately, said Debler, the homeowner had no original plans or anything to go on as far as the part of the house where the kitchen is. That space is updated and functional and is done in a way to tie in to the rest of the property but would likely give way to a renovation should a family move in — there is space off the back of the house; the rear porch could make way to enlarge the kitchen and behind that the site includes parking for a fair number of vehicles.

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Heading upstairs, at one point the main stairway presents an interesting juncture where the narrower servant stairs connect from the kitchen. On the upper floor, rooms are large and spacious.

Overall, depending on how one wants to use the home, there are up to seven bedrooms — three are in the finished basement but not finished as in today’s newer homes; rather think a combination of brick, plaster and shiplap.

Meanwhile, at 2½ storeys, this house continues to surprise not only with a layout quite different from today’s newest homes, but with what essentially is a wide open third floor that opens itself up to many uses.

As part of the restoration, Debler said the owner did her best to restore all the windows using period glass, if needed. Main floor windows, he said, still work on the rope and pulley system as when they were first installed.

The home has numerous windows, including bay windows, and the view from these is spectacular when looking out the front and sides of the house. With it located at 10417 Saskatchewan Dr., the vistas of downtown and the river valley are panoramic and scenic.

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Historic Significance

The Durrand Residence, on the Alberta Register of Historic Places, is a brick home built in an Edwardian style.

Edwardian style, according to the City of Edmonton Historic Resource Management Program, implies stature, grace and civility through its neoclassical building elements and strong symmetry. The home’s generously sized interior, according to the historic resource program, indicates an associated value with formal entertaining at the time.

Durrand, based on research from the owner, had his business nearby in the Whyte Avenue area and built the home for his family — Durrand also had a contracting business and constructed this home as well as others.

When this home was last purchased, said Debler, the owner and now restorer, wanted to make sure history was properly preserved having seen too many other historic properties that were demolished.

The house was designated as a municipal historic resource in 2002.

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