Home Delivery
When Eaton’s began offering pre-fab houses through its catalogue in 1912, western homesteaders could purchase a basic model for $890.
The Toronto-based company would ship everything from floorboards to shingles for pickup by customers at their nearest train stations. That’s what Dan Wallace did just outside Stettler in 1917, when, with his parents set to immigrate from Scotland, “he decided that the ‘soddy’ he and his wife, Rose, were living in probably wasn’t good enough,” explains Susan Penner, who with her husband, Lee, now owns the home that Dan built. But rumour has it the house proved better than “good enough.” The Wallaces’ order arrived as mistakenly upgraded to 2,000 square feet and two storeys, leaving the Scots feeling a wee bit self-conscious over the unexpected opulence. All the better for the Penners who now operate this rare and restored bit of pioneer heritage as the Wallace House Bed and Breakfast. – Scott Messenger
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