There was a time where the chances of celebrating a centennial for Red Deer’s most picturesque landmark were slim to none.
But with a lot of elbow grease, along with the dedication and commitment from hundreds of volunteers, the mesmerizing Cronquist House has a history beyond its years.
The community and the Red Deer Cultural Heritage Society marked the 100th anniversary of the Cronquist House at Bower Ponds on Sunday.
The three-storey, 3,500 square-foot, Victorian-style home was built in the fall of 1912 by Swedish immigrant Emmanuel Pettersson Cronquist on top of the high riverbank, in the area now known as West Park.
During that time Emmanuel added Cronquist to his last name after his mail was often mixed up with other Pettersson’s in the district. As a successful businessman and farmer, Cronquist spent an unprecedented $10,000 in building the home.
The original location fronted the old Calgary-Edmonton Trail, commanding the attention of those who came to Red Deer.
“The people of Red Deer were so supportive of it because in the days before all these subdivisions, when you were coming into Red Deer from either north or south, you knew you were home when you saw this big house on the hill,” said Red Deer’s Elizabeth Plumtree.
She and her husband David, 75, dressed up as if there were living in 1912 to celebrate the house’s centennial on Sunday.
Elizabeth, was the secretary treasurer of the Red Deer International Folk Festival Society — what is now the Red Deer Cultural Heritage Society.
She and David had a hand in saving the grand, historic house after a subdivision threatened to demolish it in 1976.
“We basically went to the community and said we are going to try and save this house and the community was very supportive,” she said.
Moving to Red Deer from Nottingham, England in 1969, Elizabeth had a special place in her heart for the old building.
“We came from a country where all the old buildings have been preserved and I, like a lot of other people, thought this beautiful house should be preserved,” she said.
The society needed approximately $30,000 in less than two weeks to save the house.
“It was something that would have been demolished and raising that kind of money was almost unheard of in those days,” said City of Red Deer mayor Morris Flewwelling, who was a councillor at the time.
The house was moved on March 25, 1976 in what appeared to be a daunting task: A moved across the river from the south bank to the north bank.
Elizabeth says they had to take all the bricks off before they moved the house. They also needed to build a road down the bank and temporarily remove power lines. The house was moved by trucks and pulled across the river with a bulldozer.
“I watched the whole thing and I think we all held our breath for an hour, wondering if it was going to make it or crumble but it was a very well-built house,” she said.
Luckily the move went without a hitch and the house came to reside near the old gravel quarry, which is now Bower Ponds.
The house was kept on skids for quite some time so a basement could be built, Elizabeth said.
With so much invested in the Cronquist House, Flewwelling took it upon himself to protect it from vandals who continuously broke the windows.
“So my sons and I and the dog went down and slept there several nights one summer until we managed to get the place closed in,” he said.
Little did they know that the building they fought so hard to save would become so iconic.
“It has been the most photographed and painted house in the whole of Red Deer.
“But then again how many old buildings do we have left in Red Deer?” Elizabeth asked.
“We came to Canada with two boys and a cat and I just remember the house being a part of my life so I feel proud of what we have done.”
The Cronquist House can be accessed off of Kerry Wood Drive and can be found next to Great Chief Park and Bower Ponds.
jjones@www.reddeeradvocate.com