William Brown Residence

The home was designed and built by William Brown, who built ten houses in the Highlands neighbourhood, six of them on 64 Street. Begun in 1927, this house was built on land the city acquired in 1922 for taxes owing from the Magrath and Holgate Company. Constructed of timber frame and concrete foundation with a clinker brick exterior, the house resembles a traditional English cottage with its exposed rafters, jerkin-head roofline and cedar shingles. Like many clinker brick homes, this house was influenced by the Craftsman style with a hipped gabled roof, large open verandah, and large front dormer.

Brown built houses both as a hobby and as a source of income, but he stayed in Highlands because he loved the community. An active member with the Highlands Golf Club, he convinced the city to donate the land for the course, acted as the club’s president for its inaugural meeting, and became its first secretary-treasurer. Employed by Weber Brothers, Brown also ran his own real estate and insurance business.