They sure don’t make them like this anymore. A century-old downtown Edmonton detached home hit the market this week.
“It’s definitely something that doesn’t come up every single day,” listing agent Kristopher Heuven said.
“It’s an extremely unique home.”
The 1,800-square-foot home, built in 1912, sits on the corner of 99 Avenue and 106 Street, a short walk from the Alberta legislature and Jasper Avenue.
“It appears that it’s one of the last single-family dwellings in actual downtown Edmonton proper,” said Heuven.
The downtown neighbourhood doesn’t include Oliver or McCauley.
While there are still other single-family style homes being used as offices downtown, the city says there are only nine detached homes zoned for residential use left.
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Heuven says a physical inspection of those properties reveals there are actually far fewer.
“A lot of those properties are vacant lots or something that’s about to come down,” he said.
The home is no brick-and-sandstone mansion, says Dan Rose, who is chair of the Edmonton Historical Board. But it’s a historically significant representation of Edmonton’s beginning.
“In so many ways, the really modest single-family residential home… is the story of us,” said Rose.
“It’s the story of our really humble working class origins as a city. I think it really reflects our heritage in a lot more ways than people generally think.”
The home does not have historical designation, meaning whoever buys it can do as they please.
“These properties are increasingly unsustainable for these property owners because the bricks and mortar on top of the property aren’t worth nearly as much as the opportunity to put something else there,” said Rose.
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The owner, who has lived there since 1952, remembers when the street was all single-family homes, according to her agent.
Heuven says she hopes another family could love it as much as she has.
“You would hate to see this come down but I think she is also realistic that someone wants this land more than anything.”
Time will tell what happens to this downtown unicorn, unique in so many ways.
“I can’t see something like this going on the market again,” said Heuven.
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