The Architecture of Seven Oaks House
Research by Rowan Douglas, Seven Oaks House Museum Interpreter 2025
Constructing a Legacy
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In 1851, John Inkster started construction on a new house, right next to the two-room log cabin which had housed himself, his wife Mary Sinclair Inkster and their eleven children for the past twenty years.
By this time the Inksters were quite wealthy, having built a successful freighting company which imported goods from the United States, Great Britain and eastern Canada. With their wealth and stature, they could afford the necessary materials such as oak logs, imported glass, paint and nails that were needed to construct Seven Oaks House. However, the 1852 Winnipeg Flood halted construction on the house as water reached up to four feet inside. The home was finished following the flood in 1853. |
The earliest known photo of Seven Oaks House. H.L Hime, Mr. Hingster's (Inkster) house and farm buildings, September-October 1858, collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.
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Familiar Architecture
Seven Oaks was constructed using oak logs that were floated down the Assiniboine River from the Métis community of Baie-St. Paul (8 km east of modern-day St Eustache, Manitoba.¹
The logs were squared and then laid horizontally with corner joints secured with tree nails. Notches were cut in the logs, allowing the logs to interlock creating a lap joint. The logs were then covered with milled siding. Bison hair was used to insulate the walls, and a small clump of it can be found in one of the museum's display cases. The house’s limestone foundation, according to John’s son Colin Inkster, was “...the only bit of masonry (John Inkster) did in (Canada).”²
The design of the house, with its expansive facade, large windows, and two-story construction, is greatly influenced by British and Scottish Georgian architecture. This style was an extremely common style in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Seven Oaks House, as an example of how wealthy people lived in the Red River Area, is wholly unique in that regard, being the only example of a wood built Red River mansion that exists in Manitoba today.³
The logs were squared and then laid horizontally with corner joints secured with tree nails. Notches were cut in the logs, allowing the logs to interlock creating a lap joint. The logs were then covered with milled siding. Bison hair was used to insulate the walls, and a small clump of it can be found in one of the museum's display cases. The house’s limestone foundation, according to John’s son Colin Inkster, was “...the only bit of masonry (John Inkster) did in (Canada).”²
The design of the house, with its expansive facade, large windows, and two-story construction, is greatly influenced by British and Scottish Georgian architecture. This style was an extremely common style in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Seven Oaks House, as an example of how wealthy people lived in the Red River Area, is wholly unique in that regard, being the only example of a wood built Red River mansion that exists in Manitoba today.³
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Georgian Style
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The Georgian architectural style was named after the first three King Georges of England who reigned between 1714-1820.⁴
Notable exterior design elements of Georgian architecture include a symmetrical design, a steeply pitched roof that hangs over the house, known as a hip roof, a five bay facade, and double hung windows often with 6-12 panes. To maximize light, Georgian homes often had windows on either side of the front door (sidelights) and above the door (transom light). Houses had two chimneys on both sides of the house to prevent fires. Dormer windows were common additions (on narrow left and right sides of house used to increase light and roof space). |
Georgian style diagram by DiscoverIT
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Interior design elements include high ceilings, boxy rooms and a simple two room deep floor plan. In Seven Oaks, the parlour is on one side with the dining room and breakfast room/winter kitchen on the other side.
A Simplified Design
Georgian structures built in Manitoba were not fully Georgian but were done in a vernacular style. This meant using the materials available to construct a building in a specific architectural design.⁵
While brick Georgian houses can be found in England, houses like Seven Oaks House were constructed with wood as brick was not readily available. Stone was also used, though it was less likely to be used for Manitoban house construction until it became more popular in the 1870's.
There are a few other examples in Manitoba that reflect this vernacular Georgian style. For example, St. Andrews Rectory (originally built c.1854), was one of the first stone houses in the Red River Settlement. Its verandah, much like that of Seven Oaks House, was a French-Canadian influence and was a popular addition to Red River Area dwellings.⁶
Other examples include the Grey Nuns Convent (now Musée de St. Boniface Museum) completed in 1851, and our sister museum Ross House, also built in 1851 and completed in 1854.
While brick Georgian houses can be found in England, houses like Seven Oaks House were constructed with wood as brick was not readily available. Stone was also used, though it was less likely to be used for Manitoban house construction until it became more popular in the 1870's.
There are a few other examples in Manitoba that reflect this vernacular Georgian style. For example, St. Andrews Rectory (originally built c.1854), was one of the first stone houses in the Red River Settlement. Its verandah, much like that of Seven Oaks House, was a French-Canadian influence and was a popular addition to Red River Area dwellings.⁶
Other examples include the Grey Nuns Convent (now Musée de St. Boniface Museum) completed in 1851, and our sister museum Ross House, also built in 1851 and completed in 1854.
St. Andrews Rectory, est. 1854.
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Musée de Saint Boniface Museum / Grey Nuns Convent, est. 1851.
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Ross House Museum, est. 1854
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The HBC Connection
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Throughout Manitoba, the vernacular Georgian style was closely associated with the buildings of the Hudson's Bay Company and those built by Company employees who retired to the Red River Settlement.⁷ For example, the HBC warehouse in Norway House and the York Factory Depot building were both constructed in this design.
Both national historic sites, Norway House and York Factory were both prominent fur trade depots for the HBC. York Factory was used as a depot for over 250 years for its ideal location on Hudson's Bay. Norway House is located about 30km north of Lake Winnipeg. The Archway Warehouse was built in 1841 and is the oldest surviving wooden HBC warehouse in Western Canada, and Manitoba's oldest surviving large log edifice.⁸ At York Factory its buildings would have been numerous and like Norway House, however today only the large depot building built in 1832 exists. York Factory has an Inkster Connection: John Inkster’s wife Mary Sinclair Inkster’s father William Sinclair was the Chief Factor at York Factory from 1810-1818.⁹ This position allowed him to oversee all trade from Hudson’s Bay to and from Europe. Chief factors lived in houses also constructed in the Georgian style and usually lived inside or near HBC Forts. |
York Factory National Historic Site. Photo by Nelson River Adventures Inc.
Postcard view of the Archway Warehouse at Norway House, no date, Manitoba Historical Society.
Replica of 1879 Chief Factor of Fort Carlton's House. Photo by John Stanton.
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Sources
- Peterson, Murray. “50 Mac Street Seven Oaks Museum (John & Mary Inkster House),” City of Winnipeg Historical Buildings & Resources Committee, May 2020. https://wpgopendata.blob.core.windows.net/heritage-resources-reports/Mac-50-long.pdf
- Hall, Frank. “Seven Oaks House Opened as a Museum.” Manitoba Pageant, January 1959. https://mhs.mb.ca/docs//pageant/04/sevenoaksmuseum.shtml
- Seven Oaks House Museum Tour Manual, Seven Oaks Museum, Winnipeg, Canada, 2023. iv
- Heritage Manitoba, Architectural Style Guide, 2014. https://heritagemanitoba.ca/images/pdfs/Architectural_Style_Guide_Heritage_Manitoba.pdf
- Heritage Manitoba, Architectural Style Guide, 2014, https://heritagemanitoba.ca/images/pdfs/Architectural_Style_Guide_Heritage_Manitoba.pdf
- Parks Canada, Designations of National Historic Significance, https://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/dfhd/page_nhs_eng.aspx?id=133 Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, May 1962.
- Heritage Winnipeg, Architectural Styles Georgian 1820-1870, https://mydiscoverit.ca/architectural-styles/georgian-1820-1870/#hotspot-hotspot-1599-13
- “Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site No. 12 Archway Warehouse, Jail and Powder Magazine Remains Norway House” https://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/hrb/prov/p012.html.
- Still, Gary. “WILLIAM SINCLAIR (1766-1818) NAHOVWAY (1769-1863).” William Sinclair (1766- 1818), February 21, 2016. https://www.redriverancestry.ca/SINCLAIR-WILLIAM-1766.php
Seven Oaks House Museum & Ross House Museum sit on Treaty One land: The traditional territory of the Anishinaabeg and Ininíwak, the land of the Dakota and the homeland of the Red River Métis.
Contact us:
Tracey Turner - Curator / Manager
[email protected]
[email protected]
Seven Oaks House Museum204-339-7429
[email protected] 50 Mac Street, Winnipeg, MB
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Ross House Museum204-942-5396
[email protected] 140 Meade Street North, Winnipeg, MB
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