The McMullen & Philp Residences
11019 & 11023 90th Avenue, Respectively
Constructed: 1914
Everyone has rightfully criticized the University of Alberta’s ineptitude. Four historic homes await the wrecker’s ball thanks to years of mismanagement, disinvestment, and a general lackadaisical attitude towards their own history. They tried their damnedest to destroy them, denied requests to explain their actions, and only relented when whistle-blowers announced their intentions to the world. All the opinion pieces written and all the words of resentment thrown their way have been wholly justified.
But in our rush to condemn them we’ve overlooked another mistake in the making. One that sits four blocks away from the campus’ heart, on the sleepy streets of Garneau. There lays two small homes, the McMullen and Philp Residences. Owned by the University, they too are up for demolition if no one comes forward to be their saviour.
They were built simultaneously in 1914. Both make use of the Arts and Crafts style, though the McMullen home is far more exuberant in its application. A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles writes that “the houses of the Arts and Crafts Movement were wonderfully informal and unpretentious, sophisticated in a very subtle way […] Their surfaces were plain in the extreme, ornamented only with banks of casement windows. The eaves overhang in picturesque manner, and the roofing material is sometimes imitation thatch.”
It was “an approach to architectural design rather than architectural style per se.” Inspiration was drawn from traditional rural English architecture and stressed “informal, functional plans, fairly square decoration that suggested handicraftsmanship, and a harmony with the setting.” Of Garneau’s homes, a 2003 architectural survey found that the McMullen and Philp residences were “an excellent version of the style, equal to the best in the city.”
The McMullen home was singled out for its “very impressive” design. “The composition is dramatic, as befits the style. The imposing second floor sunroom with its elliptical arch is very elegant. The main floor entrance and sunroom (instead of a full-width veranda) are well-incorporated into the design. The splay of the walls at ground level is a nice touch.”
Representing a modified bungalow style, it was described as a “superior level of ‘builders houses’” and is “a survivor of a type reproduced elsewhere in Garneau but now demolished, although examples may be found elsewhere in Edmonton, and similar designs survive in Vancouver.” Significant attention was given to the home’s many original interior furnishings.
For twenty-two years the home belonged to John F. McMullen. A stout man from Toronto, he came to Edmonton in 1906, “when he was appointed sales manager for Ross Bros. wholesale and retail hardware firm. In 1912, the Ross Bros. business was acquired by Marshall-Wells, and Mr. McMullen became sales manager. In 1913 he was appointed manager of the Edmonton branch.”
Marshall-Wells was a retail giant by the time McMullen joined. It served all of North America, specializing in farm implements, hardware supplies and tools, and paint. McMullen helped foster their success, no doubt. In the years after his hiring, Marshall-Wells “carried on a policy of steady expansion, erecting a large branch in Edmonton at 103 st. and 104 ave. and developing in other parts of the west.” For his efforts, he would be dubbed “one of the city’s leading businessmen.”
McMullen lived in this Garneau home until April 1942. In that time he had served as charter member for the Mayfair Club, President of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and Vice-President and Managing Director for the Marshall-Wells Company’s Edmonton division. He eventually moved to Winnipeg — the decision was prompted by promotion. That year he was appointed company Vice-President, “in charge of all Canadian branches and manufacturing plants.” He was shortly appointed to President, and later Vice-President of Marshall-Wells’ American parent-company.
Like the McMullen home, the neighbouring Philp Residence has been described as having “above average” significance. That 2003 report said of its design, that the home “stands out with its sweeping, open veranda and elegant, elliptical arch, grand column proportions, well-integrated ‘sleeping porch’ above the veranda, broad eaves with support brackets and combination cedar siding, cedar shingles and stucco gable infill.”
An advertisement described it:
“Just off Saskatchewan Drive is this 7 room family home overlooking Edmonton from its quiet stately landscaped lot. The main floor consists of a living room, study, dining room, kitchen, pantry, and entrance hall. On the second floor there are 3 bedrooms and 2 sun porches. The high cement basement has laundry tubs, fruit room, workshop, and furnace room. There is a garage with cement foundation and floor together with overhead heaters.”
— Edmonton Journal, September 12th, 1953
For twenty-five years, Josephus F. Philp called it home. An aging, lanky, sly grinning Ontarian, Philp came to Edmonton in 1910. As a Grand Trunk Pacific Railway ticket agent, it was a company decision. “When the G.T.P. inaugurated regular service into this city in July 1910, Mr. Philp had a city ticket office fully organized and ready to handle passenger business,” the Journal later recalled.
“For 10 years Mr. Philp continued in his post as passenger and ticket agent for the G.T.P. A change came in August 1920, when the G.T.P. merged with the Canadian Northern Railways, resulting in the formation of the Canadian National Railways. On account of the amalgamation, Mr. Philp closed his office and transferred next-door to the C.N.R. premises where he became ticket agent for the merged services.”
The railwayman made the most of his imposed home and took an active role in its social life. Like his neighbour, ‘Joe’ was a charter member of the Mayfair Club and “has long been among the keen players on the club’s popular course.” He was a lifelong Rotarian and helped found the Edmonton Rotary Club where he served as Secretary.
Philp retired on July 10th, 1938 at sixty-five, the company’s age limit. By then he was publicly known as the C.N.R.’s “No.1 passenger employee” and had been with the railway — in its various states — for fifty-three years. He’d remain in his home until July 1953, when he passed away at age eighty.
Anywhere else in Edmonton, homes like McMullen and Philp’s would’ve been ripe for designation, yet for some reason here they are, sitting like fresh meat on the chopping block. As with the threatened Ring Homes, the University cites a boilerplate explanation, stating that the “houses no longer meet the academic and research mission of the institution, while bearing continued operating and deferred maintenance costs.”
On the surface it’s a reasonable excuse. Who can argue with deferred maintenance costs? “Surely the University wasn’t being malicious. They didn’t invest in them because they couldn’t have known the homes were that important,” some will inevitably say. But the University’s known their worth for decades now. That oft-mentioned 2003 report was expressly commissioned by them to demonstrate those facts. In no uncertain terms it spelled out why they’re worthy and why they need to be saved. Hell, it even spelled out simple ways to ensure that happened. Evidently, it was ignored.
Further demonstration of their known value came in 2010. As the block was levelled to make way for new housing and offices, the two homes were saved. North, east, west, development came and yet they were spared. So why now is the University acting as if they can demolish them with impunity? Crass budget cuts imposed by the United Conservative Party is one explanation, sure, but does that absolve years-worth of University mishandling?
It’s been eighteen years since that report came out. Eighteen years they could have spent investing in these homes. Eighteen years to save valuable pieces of Edmonton’s built heritage. Instead, it’s been eighteen years wasted.
Image Gallery:
Sources:
“Roster of the Rotary Club of Edmonton,” Edmonton Journal, February 9, 1918.
“J.F. Philp, No.1 C.N. Passenger Employee, To End 53 Years of Service on Sunday,” Edmonton Journal, July 9, 1938.
“New Posting Coming To J.F. McMullen,” Edmonton Journal, February 10, 1942.
“J.F. McMullen Here on Business Visit,” Edmonton Journal, December 10, 1942.
“J.F. Philp Dies,” Edmonton Journal, July 13, 1953.
“Open For Inspection,” Edmonton Journal, September 12, 1953.
“Ex-City Man, J. McMullen Dies In N.Z.,” Edmonton Journal, February 20, 1963.
Leslie Maitland, Jacqueline Hucker, Shannon Rickets, A Guide to Canadian Architectural Styles (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 1993), 164.
University of Alberta, Historical and Architectural Assessment of the Houses in East Campus Village University of Alberta by David Murray, Ken Tingley, and Don Luxton (University of Alberta: Edmonton, AB, September 2003), 107, 108, 109,
“90th Avenue II,” Preserve Garneau, accessed June 11, 2021, http://preservegarneau.org/90Ave.php.
“Houses and Contents Sale,” University of Alberta: Vice President Facilities & Operations, accessed June 13, 2021, https://www.ualberta.ca/facilities-operations/house-sale.html.
