Rutherford House

Rutherford House is a

On 29 May 1909, Alexander Cameron Rutherford became the owner of a superset of the lot now occupied by Rutherford House. Rutherford purchased the lot from Laurent Garneau,^[a] a prominent Métis businessman. The description of him on the certificate title of ownership reads "a gentleman of Strathcona".^[6] By late 1909 plans for the house were drawn up by the firm of A.G. Wilson and D.E. Herrald,^[6][7] British-trained architects and civil engineers, and excavation completed by Strathcona contractors James Smith and J.T. Radford.^[6] During the following spring of 1910 Thomas Richards, another Strathcona contractor and master bricklayer, prepared the foundation, which was poured by the end of May 1910.^[2] The double brick walls were built during the summer of 1910, with some of the work being done by Thomas Richards himself. Work proceeded on the elegant hardwood interior over the winter, with the house being fit for occupancy by February 1911.^[2] Rutherford House when completed in 1911 had a number of modern features including hot running water, electric lighting, flush toilets, and telephones.^[2]

The Rutherford family of four, including Alexander Cameron Rutherford, Mattie Birkett Rutherford, Cecil Alexander Rutherford and Hazel Elizabeth Rutherford moved in by the end of March 1911.^[8] The Rutherfords occupied the house until September 1940, when Mattie Birkett Rutherford died on September 13, 1940.^[9] In June 1941, Rutherford House was sold, by Alexander, to the University of Alberta – Delta Upsilon fraternity, for $9500,^[10] corresponding to the cost of construction.^[11][9] The negotiations of the sale were handled by Cecil Rutherford and Francis Winspear, a founding member of the Alberta chapter of the Delta Upsilon fraternity.^[12]

Between 1941 and 1969, the house was occupied by members of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. Ed Bate was the first member to live in the home, moving in in late 1940 to serve as a caretaker for the home. He later married Ruth McCuaig, one of Rutherford's granddaughters.^[13] Roughly twenty to twenty-five members occupied the home throughout the year. Among the hundreds of Delta Upsilon alumni who called Rutherford House home are several individuals of note, including Peter Lougheed, former Premier of Alberta.^[14][15]

The Delta Upsilon fraternity vacated the house in 1969, after expropriation by the University of Alberta in 1968.

Rutherford House Provincial Historic Site opened to the public on May 11, 1974 after three years of restoration.[16] Many of the historic artifacts currently in the house are originals, donated by Hazel Elizabeth Rutherford and Helen Reid Rutherford (Cecil Alexander Rutherford's wife).

The society was created on April 22, 1985, as a registered charitable society. Its mandate is to assist in the preservation and promotion of Rutherford House as an important historical site; by fundraising and providing opportunities for the public to learn about Alberta's cultural, social and political history. Up until the mid 2010's it ran a tea room called the Arbour Restaurant or Arbour Room as well as a small gift shop (currently operated by the museum), and used to coordinate all after-hour, private function bookings.^[17]

• Achnacarry
• North American fraternity and sorority housing

Sources

• Babcock, Douglas R. (1989). A gentleman of Strathcona: Alexander Cameron Rutherford.
  ISBN 0-919813-65-8
  . Retrieved 21 July 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rutherford House.

• Official website
• Rutherford House. Canadian Register of Historic Places.
• University of Alberta Alumni Association
• Alberta Heritage – Rutherford House