One day, out of the blue, Connie asked about the number of houses left in downtown Calgary. This happened some years back (2014), and given neither of us had so much as a clue, a seed was planted. We chatted about some we recalled…perhaps…vaguely…at least four or five. Maybe more…eight? Ten? Some are lived in, maybe, but others are used by businesses, but still look like houses. Do they count? Yeah…okay…sure.
Let’s create a project, walk around the core and document the findings. A theme project we like! When this was first conceived a decade ago, there were ten houses in the core, but that number has dwindled to four. Of those still standing, one is lived in, one is empty and for the two remaining, jewellery firms occupy each. We’ll show you these and chat about what we know, and show you the other six lost since we started.
Four Houses Downtown Calgary: the last ones in the city’s core. Dollar store history with Chris Doering & Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Thanks to “Juanita Gill” for helping out and sponsoring this post. Be like Juanita…
These are not the only dwellings in downtown Calgary. A good number people call the core home, more than ever in fact, but almost everybody lives in high density condo towers or apartment buildings. In years past, good-sized sections of what is downtown today were comprised of single family dwellings, especially on the east and west sides.
Scroll down for photos and to comment.
Most of the houses seen here are rather simple and if not for this unique setting, they would have flown under the radar. This reminds us that these neighbourhoods were once very blue collar and most rich folks lived further afield.
Calgary’s downtown core borders on the CPKC tracks to the south, the Bow River to the north, 14th Street to the west and the Elbow River to the east. That’s all we touched upon. The city, Google and map makers, all agree on that as a definition. It works for us. There are still many fine old homes in neighbourhoods that border downtown, just not many inside.
Before we look at the buildings, let’s clarify how a house qualifies for inclusion here. We’ve kept it simple – a house is a dwelling, used as a residence or formerly a residence, that stills looks the part. We’re not counting houses so heavily modified that they no longer are easily identifiable as such. There are some like this in downtown, but that’s another story.
This is the fifth or sixth installment of this series since 2014 (all offline) and we’ll include images of houses not longer standing from those earlier visits.
Come join us on a little walkabout and see what we can find…
1) This former house on the 800 block of 6th Ave SW belongs to Brinkhaus Jewellers and they’re a high end purveyor of sparkly things to the wealthy. You need an Amex Black to get in. Or a letter of reference from Buffet or Musk vouching for you and proof that at minimum you own a high end German sedan. Then there’s a secret handshake. The building dates from 1910 or 1912 (depending on the source) and is a stately structure.
With all the surrounding towers, one would be hard pressed to believe that the general area here was nearly all residential well into the 1950s. It looks lost in the clutter.
2) This home on 200 block of 8th St SW is connected to historic Holy Trinity Lutheran Church and was once the residence (parsonage) for the pastor, but today they rent it out. The church sits just to its right. Built in 1912 (according to the city), or 1914 (the church) it seems well kept up and of all the places explored today, this one we suspect is the least threatened. As long as the church is there it may survive.
This home is smack dab in the middle of condo central – look left, look right, look up and take in that scene of endless towers, but it hearkens back to a time when the west end was mostly low density residential. We remember the area as kids in the ’70s and recall it as rather run down back then.
3) Next up is a brick house not far away (on the 500 block of 10th St SW) and dates from 1911. All boarded up and surround by construction fencing, our fading memories tell us someone lived in it until early 2000s. Its fate is unknown although given it’s pleasant design and solid construction perhaps someone will save it. Brick adds an air of sophistication and importance.
Next door there’s a former house that by appearances may have been almost identical. There’s a restaurant here and the building is so modified that it doesn’t meet the requirements for inclusion. It no longer LOOKS like a house from the street, even though it was one. Okay…we’ll give it honourable mention.
4) This former dwelling on 1100 block of 6th Ave SW is the location of Designs by Manuel, a jewellery company and condos have surrounded it completely. Condos, condos everywhere. We’ve seen the work of this craftsman and it’s amazing stuff. This building dates to 1913 and looks well cared for.
These four houses are close to each other and in the west fringes of downtown. Traditionally this area had the most single family dwellings in the core.
Now let’s see what we lost since this project started.
5) This was the oldest of the bunch and was the very last home in the East Side of downtown (East Village – 500 block of 8th Ave SE). It dates to 1904 and at some point covered in that delightful broken glass stucco from the mid-century period. It also had a partial false front. Looking down its length, it had sags and leans, and we’re doubtful there was a square corner in the entire building.
At the time (2018) senior’s towers and a good number of parking lots surrounded it. This will all change as new trendy condos spring up in this formerly depressed neighbourhood. It was as a rooming house for years, or flop house according to a passer-by who lived in the neighbourhood. Lots of trouble they said. Demolished a few years back, the property is now an empty lot. It was too old, beat up looking, and with undesirable occupants, so it had no place in this gentrifying neighbourhood.
When built Calgary as a city was less than a decade old and had a population around ten thousand. Let that sink in! Compare that to one point six million-ish today and you’re looking at a 15900% increase according to our scientific calculator. In 120 years time.
6) Kitty-corner to the brick house (#3) was another former dwelling converted to business use. The last occupant was a jewellery firm (I see a pattern here), Jewels by Design. The structure dates to 1910 and appeared in good shape when we saw it in 2018, but they demolished it a couple years ago. Last time we drove by, the lot was still empty. This was the last occupied lot on the west end of this block, and in the coming years expect residential towers to occupy the combined group.
7) This house (600 block of 4th Ave SW) was at the time the closest such dwelling to the centre of downtown. It was well hidden by the buildings that surround and tower over it. They swallowed it up and we doubt the thousands of drivers that pass by it every day ever noticed it.
This one is perhaps the smallest, and certainly most kitschy in design (and with that popular broken glass stucco from long ago), and dare we say it’s a cutie. It looks all the more tiny and humble given how it is (or rather was) jammed in there up against some neighbouring buildings and with those tall office towers looming over it in back.
The city said it’s from 1950, but another source suggests much earlier, 1910-ish. City records are not infallible and we suspect their date represents some major work done to the building at the time. But we say so cautiously. It’s seen in 2016 and was gone a few years later.
It’s amazing to think that the area surrounding was at one time residential and now look at it. Someone lived in the house until the mid-2010s at least. We checked just before it fell and this house plus the land (or rather exclusively the land, the house being worthless in this sort of environment) is/was worth a tidy two point six million. Cha-ching!
8) This small bungalow in the 900 block of 5th Ave SW was all boarded up when we crossed paths in 2014 and demolished only weeks later. Now there’s a big tower here. The house was constructed in 1941 and like some others we’ve spoke of in this post, is covered in broken glass stucco (aka crushed bottle stucco, broken bottle stucco or beer bottle stucco). This stuff was quite popular at one time and you can still see it on many old houses these days.
You got to wonder how many of the old man’s empties made it into that stucco mix? He liked his beer.
Best we can tell, this house remained occupied until shortly before it came down. They hung on until the bitter end. Compare it in size to modern McMansions and that will blow your mind.
9) This building on the 400 block of 6th St SW and is around the corner from #7. If you look to the left in the picture, you can see the “back yard” of that other house. It dates to 1911 and last used as office space for a lawyer. After being vacant for a time, it was demolished a few years back.
10) This house on the 1100 block of 8th Ave SW is the newest one here and dates from 1946. This here one is/was (we’re stuck in tense hell) the newest confirmed of all the houses seen.
It’s rather plain and easily missed or ignored if not for its location here in the core. Occupied until 2014, these folks kept it in good shape to the end. The land it sits on is very valuable and given there are few spaces left in downtown, this would make the property quite desirable. True enough and a week or so later after our 2015 visit it was gone.
This property, along with neighbouring lots on this block, are all empty. Last time we checked, a couple months ago, it looks like construction on a tower (no!) could start soon. The city has this on file for the property: “Commercial / Multi Family Project (BP2024-12962) is Hold – Pending Plans Review. Permit created on 2024-06-27. Project scope was New 42 Storey Residential Building (Group C).” Does that mean stalled? Somehow and some way they’ll make it happen. Prime lots like this don’t stay vacant forever and there’s much $$$ at stake.
And there you have it and it’s another one in can. As long as there’s these homes we hope to do these articles like this from time to time. Fully expect in subsequent years the titles will become numerically smaller and smaller till maybe becoming “One House Downtown Calgary”. Or maybe “No Houses Downtown Calgary”. Then we can move on to other inner-city neighbourhoods and start the series anew.
Given the demand for downtown space, someone’s going to show up with a dump truck full of money to the properties left, buy them and do some redevelopment. You know it’ll happen. You have to agree, the clock is ticking for those still left.
Thanks for joining us on this tour and drop by this site often for lots of new and original content posted regularly. Most all have historical slants of course.
“Chris and Connie have a unique way of documenting the places they visit, not copying the style or technique of others, but making it their own.” Alex Craig, Filmmaker.
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Date of adventure: Numerous times from March 2014, to present day. Location: Downtown Calgary, Alberta. Article references and thanks: City of Calgary land and building records, Heritage Calgary, plus countless Henderson Directories (various years).
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