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A photograph and plaque mounted to the corner wall of an otherwise nondescript apartment building at the intersection of 103 Street and 100 Avenue NW recalls the site's former occupant, a stately home which became one of Edmonton's most popular social centres for the political and business class. The three-storey brick Victorian house, built in 1899 and designed by local architects William S. Edmiston and Henry D. Johnson, was originally constructed as Mayor John A. McDougall's mansion.
Arriving in Edmonton in 1879 via Winnipeg, the Ontario-born McDougall purchased the land in 1895 and lived in the home with his family until 1928. McDougall shot up the social ladder when he was elected mayor in 1897, a position he served for ten years. During this time, he cultivated McDougall and Secord General Merchants, and his status as a successful political and business figure catapulted his name, and his home, into the upper echelon of the city's socioeconomic hierarchy.
After his death in 1928, his wife and sons occupied the home, until the property was taken over in 1946 by the Edmonton Home for Ex-Service Men's Children. The YWCA operated the building as a women's rehabilitation centre from 1968 until it was ultimately demolished in 1974, replaced by a new structure for the organization.
Today, the ornate residence is relegated to the history books, save for the plaque affixed to the bricks of the Claire Estates apartment that announces the property's rich political ties.
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