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Homes & Heritage Sites
2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2015
St. Andrews
St. Andrews
Deer Rapids Home
"My husband and I purchased our home 15 years ago upon returning to Manitoba with our two young boys Keaton and Cole. The street was new to the St. Andrews community and had only five new homes built on it including ours. My sister and her husband had built their dream home on Deer Rapids Dr. and it was with their encouragement that we purchased our home on their street. The 1800 square foot home was built in 1999 by Fortune Homes and like other homes on the street sits on just over an acre. It's been an adventure adding all our personal touches to the home and yard. We believe that you'll enjoy wandering our warmly decorated rooms and will be leaving with inspiring ideas for your home. Opening our home to show support for Nova House is our pleasure."
—Rod, Darlene, Keaton and Cole
BONUSDeer Rapids homeowner, Rod, is an electric guitar enthusiast. He'll be sharing his versions of a few Christmas carols as guests wander through the home.
St. Andrew's Rectory
"St. Andrews Rectory, or parsonage, was completed a few days after Christmas in 1854 by Rev. William Cockran. This impressive limestone house replaced the condemned log parsonage Cockran built 20 years earlier when he established a new Anglican mission at Grand Rapid (now St. Andrews) so he could minister to the growing flock of Hudson's Bay Company retirees settling in the area. This was not an average home in the Red River settlement; it was meant to reflect the lifestyle and social status of a ‘gentleman' of Red River Settlement. Until the arrival of the railway in the 1870s, the mission was an important centre in community life with its church, schools and farm. Rev. Cockran not only fed souls but literally helped feed new arrivals. He taught them how to grow food, survive punishing winter winds and summer heat as well as grasshopper infestations and relentless mosquitoes. The Rectory at Christmas was a festive time with lots of food and visiting; a place to brighten lives constrained by the long, dark, cold winter. Join us and go back 150 years."
—The Volunteers of St. Andrews Rectory
BONUSSt. Andrew's Rectory has a unique gift shop featuring an eclectic mix of items, including Homes for the Holidays coffee with proceeds going to Nova House.
Little Britain United Church
"The oldest United Church in Manitoba, completed in 1874, includes lovely grounds, a historic cemetery, weathered limestone walls and original wood furnishings. This beautiful stone church will be decorated for the Season of Advent and the Christmas that is to come. Experience the echoes of Manitoba's past and enjoy the gift of music as our friends from Tabula Rasa Choir share their voices in some impromptu Christmas Carols during this tour. This active faith community has long supported Nova House and is so pleased to be able to be part of this amazing way to highlight the gifts the shelter and its staff offer."
—Rev Shelly Manley-Tannis and the Little Britain congregation
BONUS - SILENT AUCTION AND RAFFLE! The church's modern (geothermal!) hall is the site of the silent auction and raffle that includes thousands of dollars' worth of prizes with all monies raised going to the Nova House rebuild. Delicious homemade bannock and tea will be served in the hall as well.
St. Clements
Perfect Scents Home
"Over the years we think we've had hundreds of women visit our Perfect Scents Christmas decorating workshops in the studio above our home. If that's taught us anything it is that everyone has a creative spark in them to be great home decorators. We've learned as much from those women as we've taught. We consider it a real blessing to have shared our home all those years with those friends.
We've also spent 17 years helping to create and market one of the largest craft sales in Manitoba – Scattered Seeds. It's fair to say we've picked up a few holiday decorating ideas and decorations from all those years of being surrounded by incredible decorators from all across Manitoba and beyond. So we really go all out for Christmas at our home. Like a lot of people in this area we are great supporters of the good work being done at Nova House and proud to open our home to help raise money for their new home."
—Homeowners Shelley and Allan Molitowsky
BONUSEvery guest at Perfect Scents receives a "Shelley Cookie" donated by Benjamin's Pantry. The same cookies are available for sale at Benjamin's at the end of your tour with 20% going to Nova House.
Harlequin House B & B
"Welcome to Harlequin House B & B, a unique rural experience. We opened our doors to guests in 2011 and find our spacious rooms and comfortable décor well suited to business and pleasure travelers from near and far. We love sharing stories with our guests as we serve wonderful gourmet breakfasts from our Award Winning Kitchen (Ciao Magazine, 2010). Put your feet up and relax in one of many gathering rooms or on the large deck which houses the hot tub/swim spa and take a moment to watch the pelicans in season or a wonderful Manitoba sunset.
Although we are transplants from the big city of Winnipeg, we love our new rural life in the St. Clements/Selkirk area and enjoy being involved in local projects. We couldn't think of a better project than a Home & Heritage Tour benefitting Nova House and their new build. We look forward to sharing our home and Christmas décor with you, so that we can also contribute to a new home assisting families to find peace and comfort throughout the year."
—Heather & Larry Hunter
BONUSListen to the melodies of a live barbershop quartet at Harlequin House and buy a CD. Meet Doreen Pendgracs for a signed copy of her book "Chocolatour". Taste our wonderful blend of Christmas coffee from Green Bean. All sales donate 20% to benefit Nova House.
Bunn House
"For the past 71 years, the Stewart family has had the privilege of enjoying the home of Thomas and Rachel Bunn. Thomas Bunn represented this area on both Louis Riel's Council and the first Manitoba Assembly. He built this stone house for his wife on the banks of the Red River in 1862 after being flooded out in Winnipeg's 1852 flood. Crafted after the Lower Fort by stone mason Samuel Taylor, this house is a historic landmark of our Red River community. There are a number of local artifacts in the home, many significant to the Red River area, plus a number of pictures that portray the history of the Selkirk and district community. As a family, we enjoy sharing this heritage treasure with others through our Bed and Breakfast business and local tours. We are pleased to showcase the home as it might have been prepared for the Christmas season in 1862. What an excellent opportunity to share our home and support a very worthy community project – Nova House."
—Beverley and Fraser Stewart
BONUSThere is lots of room for parking in the Bunn House farmyard next to the llamas!
City of Selkirk
McLeod House
"In 1998 when I made 'the McLeod House' my home, I had no idea the history I was settling into. I had grown up in the neighbourhood loving the big, old homes on the tree-lined scenic Eveline Street. Since then our family has taken special care with the additions and renovations we have made to McLeod House. It was built in 1912, owned by Angus and Polly McLeod who operated a local bakery with horse drawn carriage delivery. One of their sons, E.E. McLeod, was a customs officer and owned a general store. Another son, Bill McLeod, became the conductor on the streetcar that ran from Selkirk to Winnipeg.
From generation to generation our family has had the spiritual meaning, joy of togetherness and the magic of Christmas within our hearts. So when family and friends gather in our home, especially at Christmas, they feel the love of the season. Helping Nova House to continue to provide the 'comforts of home' for people that are in need is especially exciting for us. Welcome!"
—Tom & Heather Pringle & Cede Schindler
BONUSThe McLeod homeowner loves to sew and craft and will have Christmas items on sale with 20% of the proceeds going to Nova House.
Colcleugh House
"What we love most about Colcleugh House is the history of the first owners. One of the first mayors of Selkirk, F.W. Colcleugh, built this house in 1872, overlooking the Red River. After his first wife died he married an American journalist, Emma Shaw, and she used this house as her depot while she travelled extensively through Canada's North and wrote 'dispatches' back to New York publications. She was apparently the first white woman to shoot the Grand Rapids in Manitoba with a First Nations chief. On one of her journeys, all the way from Selkirk to Alaska she collected dozens of magnificent Aboriginal and Inuit crafts. Her collection can be found on display at a Rhode Island university museum. Shaw divorced Colcleugh after two years and started travelling and reporting from other far corners of the world. We feel we are stewards of this home and have an obligation to share our private space and the history with the community on occasions like this."
—Homeowners Shirley Muir, George Stephenson and Kit Muir
BONUSThe Carriage House at Colcleugh House is a pop-up store where you can buy beautiful refurnished furniture and fresh and funky Christmas decorations. Get your shopping in early with 20% of every sale going to Nova House!
Traders Bank (Benjamin's Pantry and Cellar)
"We bought the Traders Bank Building in 1996 and have been carefully restoring it ever since, including turning the Tyndall stone basement into a fine dining restaurant – The Cellar, and making the main floor The Pantry coffee shop and bakery. The building was built in 1906-07 overlooking the Red River and was the cornerstone of the financial district of Selkirk. The main floor was originally occupied by Moody's Hardware as well as the Traders Bank, and eventually was home to Dominion Bank and finally the Royal Bank. In the early 1900s Heap and Heap Barristers had offices on the upper floors. Bank managers also often lived upstairs. Please make us your final stop on the Homes of the Holidays tour and relax with us."
—Chef MJ Feeke
BONUSEnd your tour at the Trader's Bank and enjoy a coffee or hot chocolate and enter for a fabulous door prize. If you're holding ticket #1 to #100 for the Thursday Pre-Tour, you can also enjoy a wine and cheese reception here on November 18.
