The Firkins Residence
“1905 Street” — Fort Edmonton ParkOriginally 7901 Saskatchewan Drive
Constructed 1911-12
Ashely and Blanche Firkins, a newly-wed couple from Illinois, came to Alberta in 1911 — why Edmonton of all places remains a mystery.
Family accounts speculate that Ashley may have been drawn north to provide dental services to the railways. It’s certainly possible. A recent graduate from Northwestern University Dental School, Ashely’s ability to perform difficult corrective operations relating to the oral cavity and antrum was renowned. Dr. Leslie McIntyre, a contemporary, cited Firkins as “a clever student, an expert in his line, and… a gentleman.”
Although quickly certified by the Alberta Dental Council, Ashley appears to have rejected the possibility of railway work and instead pursued a private-practice with longstanding city dentist, Dr. John Lowther. Fort Edmonton Park instead suspects that the true reason for the Firkins move was that they “perhaps… were intrigued by the reported opportunities that Western Canada had to offer.” A coeval issue of the Edmonton Bulletin only muddies matters further by suggesting that Dr. J.C. Madill, an Edmontonian classmate of Firkins’ at Northwestern, convinced Ashley to move after graduation.
Whatever the reason, the Firkins settled in Strathcona and purchased Lot 19 of River Lot 8. Just when the family bought their plot is unknown. Some retellings suggest October 1911, however, a building permit taken out by Blanche dating to August of that year pinpoints the family’s ownership to sometime earlier that summer. Construction on their $2,500 estate began prior to Christmas 1911 and was likely completed by summer 1912 as records indicate the family occupied the property by late that year.
Architecturally, the home represents one of Edmonton’s earliest and best applications of American Craftsman design. Drawing inspiration from the English Arts & Crafts Movement and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style, Craftsman plans produced homes which Maitland, Hucker, and Ricketts describe as “wonderfully informal and unpretentious in a very subtle way.” The Firkins’ Residence exemplifies Craftsman trends with its low-slung massing and horizontal proportions, use of stucco, and exposed eaves. Many of these homes “were plain to the extreme,” and ornamented only with banks of casement windows and handcrafted elements such as doors and small decorative flourishes. Floor plans were open and meant to emphasize movement within the space.
The home’s distinct Californian Bungalowesque appearance stood in stark contrast to its contemporaries, and calls into question an oft-heard refrain about its history: “the Firkins’ Residence is a prefabricated catalogue-home.” While kit-homes from T. Eaton, B.C. Mills Timber & Trading, and Aladdin Homes were undeniably popular, most designs were fairly conservative when compared to the Firkins’. What is more likely is that the property is instead a ‘home-pattern book’ design. Wetherell and Kmet’s Homes in Alberta, explains further:
“Before 1918, many Alberta newspapers subscribed to syndicated services or reprinted articles and floor plans from major American house magazines, such as Kieth’s and House Beautiful. After 1912, the Calgary Herald regularly printed house plans distributed through syndicated services. Many of these designs were drawn by American architects… Most newspapers and magazines providing plans usually supplied blueprints and an instruction sheet at a cost ranging between $5 and $10.”
Once purchased the buyer then supplied the blueprints to a contractor which manufactured or sourced the needed elements, and erected them according to the instructions for their client. As Wetherell and Kmet write, these plans helped popularize American styles within Canada which may account for the home’s West Coast-look.
The Firkins and their two young daughters, Carolyn and Miriam, lived in their extravagant Edmonton residence largely uninterrupted [1] for over a decade, yet not much is known of the family’s personal life. Society notices suggest that Blanche, ever “vivacious and full of fun,” hosted “At Home” teas on the first Tuesday of each month. A report from a Californian newspaper stated that she “found time for club work — very much a woman’s woman — and interested herself in the civic affairs of any place in which she lived.” Ashley, meanwhile, played golf and helped found both the Granite Curling and Mayfair Golf & Country Clubs. He may have also been an avid boxer; one article wrote that he took part in a “catch-as-catch-can, toe holds and strangle holds barred” sparring match during a dentists’ picnic. While family accounts suggest that neither Ashley nor Blanche were particularly spiritual, reports from the Bulletin and Journal indicate that they may have been Unitarians, at least while in Edmonton. Blanche, on more than one occasion, hosted meetings for the First Unitarian Church’s Women’s Alliance at the Firkins’ abode, and Ashley was once referenced as the congregation’s chief treasurer.
In late-1923 the Firkins’ relocated to Pamona, and then Compton, California. Blanche later served as Compton’s City Clerk, while Ashely reestablished his practice. Sadly, Mr. Firkins died suddenly on March 10th, 1933, during the Long Beach Earthquake. Said the Peninsula Times, Ashley “was operating on a patient in his second floor office in a downtown building. The building collapsed and when the masonry was pulled away he was dead, but his patient, an unidentified woman, the apron and towel still across her shoulders, walked out of the wreckage only slightly injured.” A plaque listing the tremor’s victims, created by Firkins’ fellow Kiwanis Club members, was dedicated in his honour and placed in Compton city hall.
A handful of tenants came to occupy the Firkins’ old residence, including three successive University of Alberta professors. By 1992, the aging home was the property of Rod and Audrey Karpetz, who offered it, free of charge, to the Fort Edmonton Historical Foundation. The one proviso was that the home be moved from the property as soon as possible to allow for the construction of a new home on site.
The offer was accepted, and the home was moved to Fort Edmonton Park on August 27th, 1992. Vicki Van Vliet Vaitkunas, then-Foundation Executive Director, described:
“A unique collaboration between the Fort Edmonton Historical Foundation and the Canadian Armed Forces saw 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (1CER) providing the all important labour. The flexibility of the completion date and the project’s value as a local training exercise for their trades allowed the military to take on the task.”
Work on the Firkins’ House began in fall 1997. Brought back to like-new condition, it opened to the public for the first time on May long weekend, 1998.
Cited Notes:
The Firkins left their home for an eighteen-month period in between July 1918 and December 1919. During this time they resided in Illinois. The reason for the extended trip was not disclosed in the papers.
Sources:
“Dental Council Results,” Edmonton Journal, July 28, 1911.
“Month’s Building In ‘Scona $48,950,” Edmonton Journal, September 8, 1911.
“Women’s Activities at Home and Abroad,” Edmonton Journal, December 9, 1919.
“South Side Locals,” Edmonton Journal, October 5, 1920.
“No Toothaches June 7th; Dental Surgeons Plan Picnic,” Edmonton Journal, June 4, 1921.
“On The South Side,” Edmonton Journal, April 10, 1923.
“Social Side of City Life,” Edmonton Bulletin, June 30, 1923.
“Dr. A.M. Firkins Slain; Mrs. Frank Ball, Also Of Edmonton, Killed,” Edmonton Journal, March 11, 1933.
“Baby Is Born While House Totters,” Peninsula Times, March 11, 1933.
“Dentist Killed In Earthquake Highly Skilled Practitioner,” Edmonton Bulletin, March 14, 1933.
“Big Crowd at Dedication of New Compton City Hall,” Long Beach Sun, April 14, 1934.
“Living in this Old House,” Edmonton Journal, August 8, 1992.
Don Retson, “Boo Radley Might Like It Here: Firkins House One Spooky Place,” Edmonton Journal, March 10, 1998.
Gordon Kent, “Fort Edmonton’s Newest Restoration: Old House Harbours Memories of Haunted Past,” Edmonton Journal, May 7, 1999.
Vicki Van Vliet Vaitkunas, “Phlianthropy: Hard at Work In Our Community,” Edmonton Journal, November 11, 2001.
Donald Wertherell and Irene Kmet, Homes in Alberta: Building, Trends, and Designs (Edmonton AB: University of Alberta Press, 1991), 60.
Leslie Maitland, Jacqueline Hucker, Shannon Rickets, A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 1993), 164.
Carolina Jakeway Roemmich, Our Living History: The First Fifty Years of the Fort Edmonton Foundation (Edmonton AB: Fort Edmonton Foundation, 2019), 222-225.
City of Edmonton & Fort Edmonton Park, 1905 Street: The Municipal Era, 1891-1914, Park Manual (Edmonton AB: City of Edmonton, Spring 2019), 41, 42.
