Historic McLuhan House

HISTORIC McLUHAN HOUSE, Edmonton, Alberta

Restoration and Rehabilitation for Adaptive Reuse

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McLuhan House, originally a single-family house, was converted to a commercial use when it was purchased by Arts Habitat as their administrative headquarters. The House was designated as a Municipal Historic Resource and the zoning was changed to allow the new use. The House then had to be in compliance with the Alberta Building Code to allow the new commercial use. This meant that there were numerous interior and exterior building code issues that had to be resolved before a compliance certificate could be issued. At the same time, Arts Hab was committed to exterior restoration of the House as part of the designation agreement with the city of Edmonton. The restoration and the rehabilitation work took over a year to complete.
 
The following article has been extracted from an Edmonton Journal article by Paula Simons on January 28, 2016  
“The medium is the message, cultural theorist Marshall McLuhan  famously declared. If architecture is the medium, Edmonton’s newest micro-museum, McLuhan House has a simple message: Welcome in.

The little wooden Arts and Crafts cottage at 11342 64th St., is one of the oldest homes in the historic Highlands neighbourhood. Built in 1912, atop a small hill, it was designed for real-estate promoter Herbert McLuhan, his beautiful actress-wife Elsie, and their baby son Marshall.

The 1,500-sq.-foot home was designed by acclaimed local architects Arthur Nesbitt and Ernest Morehouse, who were also responsible for much flashier Highlands homes, including the Holgate and McGrath Mansions.

It was here that McLuhan, one of Canada’s most influential public intellectuals, learned to ride a tricycle. It was here that he went sliding in his wicker snow sled.

The McLuhan family fell on hard economic times. They left Edmonton for Winnipeg in 1915, but retained ownership of the house until 1923. It has only changed hands a few times since.

In 2012, Arts Habitat Edmonton, a not-for-profit which creates and manages affordable living and work spaces for artists, bought the house for $475,000. Since then, it has spent $150,000 more to renovate the heritage home, restoring its original elements, bringing it in line with modern building codes

“I like the fact that it’s a little modest house. It’s really a gem,” says Linda Huffman, Arts Habitat’s executive director. “It’s not a mansion. It’s a really good example of the everyday.” 

In part, it’s an interpretive centre and photo gallery, celebrating its famous namesake.

Huffman’s team worked closely with local architect David Murray and local interior designer Johanne Yakula, who both specialize in period restoration.”

Project Manager – Tony Hilner
Restoration Carpenter – Andrew Culham, A&A Woodwork Creations