The Deane House
Built in 1906, The Deane House is the only North West Mounted Police (NWMP) building that remains intact on the site. The Fort, established at the confluence of Bow and Elbow rivers in 1875, was the origin point for the settler town that would become Calgary.
The Deane House is a well-executed example of a foursquare house in Calgary. It is a two-storey square building with a central front entrance and symmetrical facade. This style, derived from the Prairie Style of Frank Lloyd Wright, was popularized through pattern books and common in Calgary at time of construction. Typical features seen here include a square plan with horizontal emphasis, wood lap and shingle siding, low-pitched hip roof with dormers and full-width front veranda (rebuilt in 1975). This house is impressive in size and was comparable to Calgary’s biggest houses at the time.
Richard Burton Deane (1848-1930) ordered and oversaw construction of this residence when he became superintendent of Fort Calgary in 1906. Deane considered this modern, stately home as the “best house” on the site. When Fort Calgary closed in 1914, the historic Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) Railway bought the NWMP site. They demolished all the for buildings except this one, which was saved for use as a rail terminal. In 1929, the house was purchased by the entrepreneur C.L. Jacques. It was pulled by tractor across the Elbow River on a temporary log bridge and set on a new foundation on its present site. Until 1973 the building was a rooming house call Gaspe Lodge. The City of Calgary bought the house in 1973 and in 1975 the lost veranda was re-created. The building was then used as an art gallery, Fort Calgary interpretive area, and finally as a privately operated restaurant.
Today, the Deane House continues to hold a place of both historical and architectural significance.
HERITAGE CALGARY ~ Installed 2021
Where Did the Deane House get its Name?
Superintendent Richard Burton Deane (1848-1930) was the last commanding officer of Fort Calgary before the barracks closed in 1914. The house was built in 1906 and is the only surviving structure from he original North West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort.
If its walls could talk about their first resident, they would tell great stories.
They would tell of tragic love. When Deane was posted to Calgary, he had been married for 36 years to Martha, the love of his life and she was gravely ill. Deane ordered the construe ton of this house, requesting it be completed for Christmas. Sadly, Martha died on December 23. She never got to live here.
There would be tales of dramatic action. Deane fought in West Africa’s Anglo-Ashanti War of 1873-74 as a British Royal Marine. He left that force to move to Canada, joining the NWMP in 1883, where life repeated itself. Just as in Africa, where the Ashanti resisted British colonial control, here in 1885, Metis and First Nations allies resisted the NWMP force’s colonial control. It was Deane who guarded resistance prisoners, including Metis leader Louis Riel.
And there would be comedy. In 1866, Deane’s imagination was captivated by magic. He became a sleight-of-hand magician, entertaining people often. This developed into a love for theatre, and Deane acted, produced and directed plays. Deane also enjoyed writing later in life, publishing a book called Mounted Police life in Canada. He described how Calgary was full of crime - like the “Tucker Peach Murder”. He also described falling involve with his second wife Mary, his nurse while he was recovering from injury in this house.
Soon after Fort Calgary closed in1914, Mary died and Deane returned to England.
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway took over the Fort Calgary site and Deane’s house became the station agent’s home. In 1929, private owners moved it across the Elbow River to the location. It was a boarding house, then an art gallery, and now a restaurant - and its story is not over.
FORT CALGARY
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