The residence known as Annandale, one of Lethbridge’s best known heritage homes, has been designated as a Provincial Historic Resource and is listed on the Alberta Register of Historic Places.
Annandale is located on a large corner lot at 13th Street and 4th Avenue South in Lethbridge, an area known historically as the London Road district, which was home to many of the city’s community leaders. The residence is an excellent example of the eclectic homes that were being built in the early decades of the twentieth century by Alberta’s upper-middle class and professionals.
Like many homes built in Alberta in the early decades of the twentieth century, it is difficult to characterize Annandale to a specific style. The residence is basically a large American Foursquare home, but it exhibits elements of a variety of styles. Its round arches and wide, flared eaves evokes Italianate or Romantic Revival styles and the variegated exterior cladding, exposed rafter ends and brackets, tapered dormers, bay windows and decorative glazing all speak to an Arts and Crafts pedigree. All taken together, Annandale can be best described as being of the Queen Anne Revival style. This style borrowed elements of other revivalist styles to create picturesque, complex and usually ornate homes.
Annandale was built in 1909 for Lewis Martin Johnson, a promising Lethbridge-based lawyer. The name, Annandale, is a reference to the Scottish border district of Annan, the ancestral home of Clan Johnstone. Annandale has been previously designated as a Municipal Historic Resource by the City of Lethbridge for its association with its previous owners, prominent lawyer Lewis Martin Johnson (1909-1935) and rancher George Ross (1937-1940).
Alberta currently has more than 360 provincial historic resources. These sites embody the diversity of our province’s history and include medicine wheels, tipi rings, fur trading and mounted police posts, coal mines, farmsteads, ranches, railway stations, grain elevators, churches, schools, government offices, commercial blocks and private residences. Along with helping to provide economic, social and cultural benefits, designation of provincial historic resources helps to ensure that local landmarks will continue to help connect Albertans with their rich heritage.
For more information on the Provincial Historic Resource Designation program, click here.
RETROactive 