Buildings

31 Rowand Avenue

Address:31 Rowand Avenue
Original Use:Dwelling
Constructed:1950
Architects:W. D. Lount
Contractors:Frank Lount and Son Company

More Information

This one and a half storey, 1,304 square foot home was constructed in 1950, and is an example of how the Lount Company altered the siting of a home to increase variety within the street-scape. The home is the seventh of eight distinct designs within the division and has been turned 90 degrees. To provide a typical front or street face, a large original divided-light picture window, provided by the Hobbs Glass company, overlooks the front yard. This style of home is an updated interpretation of a traditional Cape Cod and was a very popular design in post-war suburbs across the city. It shares the Cape Cod’s overall character; a steeply pitched roof provides an upper half-storey for two bedrooms which sits atop a boxy lower level with clearly expressed end gables.

The picture window was a design element common in post-war homes. These large windows were initially included as a way for developers to make the interior of an otherwise small and indistinct house feel spacious, modern and light, although they soon became commonplace in all styles and classes of home. The windows were seen as framing devices, as important for those residents looking out, as for those passing by and seeing family life and the objects which supported it.

Design Characteristics

Materials:The house is clad primarily in stucco with gables covered in painted horizontal wood siding.
Size:One and a half-storeys
1,304 square feet
Style:Bungalow
Developer:Frank R. Lount
Suburb:Silver Heights
  • Subcontractors included: Nelson River Construction Company; Cotter Bros. Ltd, roads, sewers, water and plumbing; Lars Mattson, plastering: Bowyer-Boag Ltd, sheet metal; C. T. Lount Oil Heating Company, heating; Home Painting and Decorating Company, painting; Minaker Construction Company, brickwork; Concrete Placers Limited, basements; Weston Builders Specialties Ltd., roofing, millwork, cabinets, aluminum windows, tile; Walter Wray Limited, garage doors; Hobbs Glass, fixed windows and decorative glass; Wrought Iron Products, ornamental iron.

Sources

  • “Silver Heights Development.” Western Construction and Building. November 1952.
  • Rostecki, Randy. Silver Heights: A Mid-century Modern Winnipeg Subdivision. For the City of Winnipeg Heritage section of Planning, Property and Development. 2013.