Bowerman House

Description of the Historic Place

The Bowerman House features a two-storey western stick-style bungalow. The house faces a park that was once part of the Sanatorium grounds, and its surrounding yard merges with the natural vegetation along the west side of the South Saskatchewan riverbank. The house is located in the Holiday Park neighbourhood and was constructed into the slope of a hill.

This historic place, located at 1328 Avenue K South, was designated as a Municipal Heritage Property in 1986. Designation pertains to both the house and a portion of the property grounds.

Heritage Value

The heritage value of the Bowerman House lies in its Western Stick style of architecture, a style that was popular in the United States at the time of its construction. The home’s compact, low massing is highlighted by a low-pitched cross-gable roof with broad eaves, creating a sheltered outdoor living space, whose cornice, exposed rafter tails and stylized dormer with exposed brackets represent key features of this architectural style. The use of organic materials, including fieldstone and wood complement the home's woodland setting. The variegated fieldstone of its chimney is repeated in its porch piers. A glassed-in sunroom faces east and the ground-level rooms open onto a patio. Inside, the intricacy of design is continued in beamed ceilings, built-in cabinetry and wainscoting, which, together with a large fieldstone fireplace, enhance the retreat-like country ambience.

The Bowerman House is also valued for its long association with Allan Bowerman. This house was built as a private lodge and summer residence for Bowerman in 1907, reflective of his abiding love of and interest in studying nature. Arriving in Saskatoon from Winnipeg in 1899 and a graduate of Kingston Military College, Bowerman became Saskatoon’s first postmaster on the west side of the river. A member of Saskatoon’s first Town Council (1903 – 1905) and advocate of a Board of Trade, Bowerman built his lodge on his homestead located four miles west of the city limits. He is remembered in Saskatoon for the construction of the commercial Bowerman Block and the eight-storey, half million dollar Canada Building in 1912. 

The Bowerman House is also strongly associated with the history of tuberculosis treatment in Saskatoon. The building was acquired for the Anti-Tuberculosis League in 1924, serving thereafter as a residence for Sanatorium doctors until 1987. From 1923-1959, it was the home of Dr. H.C. Boughton. Joining the Sanatorium staff in 1925, Dr. Boughton was a leader in the early fight against the disease. 

The Bowerman House is no longer on the outskirts of Saskatoon however it continues to exhibit its original natural beauty.

Source: City of Saskatoon Bylaw No.6440 / City of Saskatoon Built Heritage Database / Canadian Register of Historic Places

Character Defining Elements

Key elements which contribute to the heritage value of this historic resource include:

• Its Western Stick style of architecture, evident in: its low, compact organic shape, its layout, the slope of its roof and its eaves, the verandah, its variegated granite chimney and piers, the dormer with its bracket supports, window size, style and placement, the location of the front steps and its newel posts, the covered side entrance and its detailing, its interior features including - its fieldstone fireplace, its cabinetry of birds’-eye maple, its beams and their finishing, and its wainscoting;
• Its building orientation on its original lot, and the surrounding wooded landscape; and
• The adjacent park that was part of the Sanatorium grounds.