19) Wardrop House

Wardrop House

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The Wardrop house was built by Walter Wardrop in 1885, but the family did not move into the property until the late fall of 1887. From 1887 to 1899 the front of the Wardrop home was operated as a store for the community. They had dealings with the W.J. Gage Company from Winnipeg and also the Ames Holden Company, wholesalers in Winnipeg. When the house was built, there was no concrete for the basement walls, it was simply a hole in the ground and those stood for many years in the hardened clay. 

In 1911 Dave Wardrop married Mabel Cousins, and moved into the house, remaining there until their passing. A barn was built in 1918 and in 1922 a 32-volt electric plant was installed in the basement of the house along with 16 glass storage batteries, for the lights in the house, barn and blacksmith shop.  This upgrade offered the family the luxury of electricity. An electric motor mounted on a tripod ran the cream separator, the churn, a grindstone and the fanning mill. Heat from the house was by a furnace in the basement with a large register in the dining room. A square 6-foot concrete walled opening with a wooden cover had been installed on the west side of the house, leading to a door in the basement that gave access to store wood in the basement for the furnace. 

Throughout the year, there were several fires in the furnace chimney and salt would be thrown in the fire to control it. A large camp stove was located in the kitchen with a reservoir for hot water at one end. A pump was located inside the kitchen that pumped water from a well located partly below the kitchen and back porch. There was a high verandah running along the front and side of the house, with an outside stair case on the west side of the house.  As wood deteriorated it was finally removed an ultimately a porch with windows was added on the east side for a front entrance. The home was quite modern for it’s time. 

The house was uninhabited for many years, and was torn down around 2019. The land is still in the Wardrop family, one of the early Whitemouth pioneering families.

Additional Details

Civic Number: 64 162 Brickyard Road   l    Amenities on Site: N/A   l    Building on Site: Yes; Private Residence 

                            
The former Wardrop House (September 1995) Photo courtesy of George Penner.   Aerial view of the former Wardrop House (1982) Photo courtesy of George Penner.

The former Wardrop House (October 2013). Photo courtesy of Gordon Goldsborough.