The Davidson Residence

By Lawrence Herzog

Herzog on Heritage | June 3, 2011 | Article 002

The residence at 5650 Ada Boulevard was built starting in 1912 for Magrath-Holgate & Company and is named for pioneer entrepreneur Adam James Davidson, who called it home from 1920 until his death in 1945. The house stayed in the Davidson family until 1982.

With a cost of about $10,000, it was one of the most extravagant houses William J. Magrath and Bidwell A. Holgate built on speculation. The residence, which overlooks the river valley, may have been designed by Edward Morehouse, the architect of many other exquisite Highlands homes of the day, including Magrath’s own mansion.

The two-and-one-half-storey home was patterned in the four-square style, with wide eaves, an expansive verandah, a large balcony on the second storey, Palladian windows, and shingles and siding made of wood. It was first owned by Edmonton realtor Harry W. Ritchie and his wife Stella.

But when hard times hit with the coming of the First World War, they couldn’t keep up the payments, and title reverted back to Magrath-Holgate in 1917. Davidson, his wife Isabella McLauchlan Smith and their five children (Cora Bell, Louis Harold, George Gordon, Jean Marguerite and James Robin) moved into the house as renters in 1920.

Davidson, or A.J. as he was known, was 46 years old when he decided to leave a comfortable life in Galt (now Cambridge), Ontario, and see if the stories of the “Last Best West” were true. On the advice of his brother who had preceded him west, A.J. and his 16-year-old son Louis claimed a homestead near Hanna, Alberta.

Isabella and the other children soon followed, and the family split its time between Hanna and Calgary so the children could obtain a good education. The entire family moved to Edmonton in 1913, drawn north by the opportunity of the land boom. They rented the Frank Oliver house on 103rd Street near 100th Avenue and later bought a house at 100th Avenue and 113th Street.

A.J. and his brother-in-law George Robertson formed the Robertson Davidson Real Estate Company, with offices at 10012 Jasper Avenue. Their main focus was to sell a tract of land known as Beverly Heights.

To encourage sales, they negotiated in 1913 with the City of Edmonton to extend the streetcar tracks east along 112th Avenue in return for a payment of $25,000. This line was never actually built, and the city instead chose to provide a chartered bus service.

The boom went bust the following year and the partners lost some of their land to property taxes, but they kept their mineral rights, which were to prove important later on. A.J. needed to find other means of paying the bills and during the First World War, he became a shareholder of Western Foundry & Machine Company.

This munitions factory, which made shells and other ammunition for the war, was located at 53rd Street and 124th Avenue, adjacent to the Canadian National Railways tracks. Using his mineral rights, A.J. started a coal mining operation just above the river bank near 36th Street south of 104th Avenue, which he registered in 1917 as the Beverly Coal and Gravel Company Limited #707. It came to be locally known as the Bush Davidson Mine.

To be closer to the business, the family rented the house on Ada Boulevard and then in 1924 completed the purchase from Magrath’s widow Ada for $10,000 and some shares in Western Foundry. The Davidsons came to call it “The Big House.” Lou and his family settled in a house across the lane at 5609 111th Avenue.

In 1928, A.J. leased the mine to Bush Mines Limited and diversified into dairy farming –  a love it seems he had never lost from days growing up as a boy on a dairy farm in Ontario. The barn that had been built for horses working the mine property became home to a herd of purebred Holstein Friesian cattle and, after expansion, it accommodated 30 milking cows and another 30 young stock, dry stock and bulls.

Writing in the Highlands Historical Foundation newsletter’s winter/spring 1996 edition, Anita Jenkins observed that for Davidson and his family, “Alberta was the land of opportunity that it had promised to be.” The Highlands turned out to be an ideal home for them, providing a cheery suburban setting with easy access to the city only a short distance from their farm.

A.J. opened up 180-acres as pastureland and the superb facility and careful breeding produced many awards at exhibitions in Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary and Saskatoon. As A.J. reached his 70s and began to slow down, his son Gord took over operation of the dairy farm, with its distinctive red-roofed, white-painted buildings. By 1944, milk production topped 1,400 pounds per day.

When A.J. died on July 15, 1945, at the age of 81, his prize-winning purebred herd numbered 69. His obituary noted he was known for his public spirit and interest in civic affairs, his presidency of the Provincial Holstein Friesian Breeders’ Association, and his instrumental role in the development of Beverly. Tom Hays, an Alberta cattle breeder who had worked on the Davidson dairy farm, eventually purchased the herd and flew the cattle to Argentina to improve breeding stock there.

In response to a housing shortage brought by the influx of American service personnel building the Alaska Highway during the Second World War, the house was divided into four suites. Half of the verandah was enclosed, a balcony on the second floor became living space, and exterior stairs were added onto the eastern side. The Davidsons continued to live on the main floor.

Isabella passed away April 28, 1949, at the age of 84 and Glen and Cora assumed title of “The Big House,” where they stayed until 1982. Now, houses sit where the mine and farm used to be and A.J.’s cow pastures are part of Rundle Park.

The house was owned by Ken and Charlotte Smith from 1985 to 2010, and last year was purchased by Ryan and Pamela Scott, who are planning a complete restoration. They are eager to connect with anyone who can provide more information and photos of the house so they can accurately replicate features like a fireplace removed in the 1980s.

Special thanks to Ryan and Pamela Scott, City of Edmonton heritage planner David Holdsworth and Heritage Collaborative Inc. for research assistance with this article.

© Lawrence Herzog 2011, All Rights Reserved

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