Gates to stay up when new project built
Former Nanton Estate property to be turned into duplex
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This article was published 14/12/2018 (2523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The sentinel gates marking the property at 229 Roslyn Rd.will remain as the historically significant lot is given new purpose.
On Dec. 11, City Centre community committee approved an application to rezone the property from R1-medium density to R2 for the development of a 3,000-square-foot, two-storey duplex with two 784-square-foot double car garages with rooftop decks.
The lot currently has a small home and a set of gates facing Roslyn Road, erected in 1900, as part of the former Nanton Estate, Kilmorie.The gates are protected with municipal heritage designation.
“Our intention of the design is in direct response to the gates,” Alden Neufeld of Size Architecture told the committee. “The materiality of the building will be finished with the same Manitoba limestone adding to the building a degree of permanence, longevity, and an esthetic suitable to the neighbourhood.”
To make way for the new housing project, the dwelling currently on the site must be demolished, Neufeld said.
According to Neufeld, the single family home, colloquially known as the gatehouse, fell into substantial disrepair over the past decade, and they will attempt to salvage what interior heritage elements remain inside.
In the early 1900s, the property was home to prominent Winnipeggers Sir Augustus Meredith Nanton and Lady Ethel Nanton.
The pair — whose wealth stemmed from Nanton’s work as a financier with brokerage and investment firm Osland and Hammond, and later his involvement with the Manitoba and Northwestern Railway Company and Canadian Pacific Railway — had five acres of land where they enjoyed horseback riding along heavily treed trails and gardens.
According to a City of Winnipeg heritage report, the main home was demolished in 1935 after the death of Sir Nanton, and Lady Nanton moved into the gatehouse, originally established to accommodate coachmen and later the family’s chauffeur and gardener. She lived there until her death in her mid-40s.
The City of Winnipeg’s list of historical resources indicates only the gates are protected with heritage status, although the accompanying report authored in the 1980s references the gatehouse specifically.
Cindy Tugwell, executive director of Heritage Winnipeg, expressed concern about the gatehouse not being protected with heritage status alongside the gates and requested an explanation from the planning department.
“We were thrilled to see that the gates would be reused as part of the overall plan,” Tugwell said. “We would like to be involved with the developers to see if we can salvage some of the interior elements, because the Nantons were a very, very important family in Winnipeg.”
Planner Andrew Ross told the committee the gatehouse is not a heritage resource and there’s nothing the City can do to compel its preservation.
Neufeld said the design of the new duplex is a response to the community and is in keeping with the character and scale of adjacent properties. The modest increase in zoning is also a good use of the property, Neufeld remarked, while taking high density proposals for the lot off the table.
The committee also approved a variance to permit a semi-circular driveway.
The application proceeds to the standing committee on property and development, heritage, and downtown development for consideration.