Description of Historic Place

The General Manager’s House, also known as Building 20, faces a large, open yard in the Bear Creek Compound, a historic, non-operating, placer gold mining facility in the Klondike River valley. The building consists of both log and wood-frame construction that is clad in horizontal wood siding and topped by a metal covered, gable roof. The gable end facing the yard has a front verandah, deep roof overhang and wood brackets. The main entry is off a screened porch on the building’s east side. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The General Manager’s House is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values.

Historical Value
The General Manager’s House, as part of the Bear Creek complex, is closely associated with the corporate phase of Yukon’s gold mining history. The building is one of the oldest structures at the site; and, as such, is linked to the Canadian Klondike Mining Company’s operations, as well as to those of the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation that took over the building in the 1930s. The building is also a prominent example of residential development at the village-like mining facility.

Architectural Value
The General Manager’s House displays good aesthetic design, and is a typical example of log construction in the Dawson City area. Its front verandah, screened porch and overhanging gable roof supported on brackets, give the building a residential expression. Of good functional design, the building was successfully adapted to meet changing needs at the Bear Creek complex. The log construction and wood-frame structure exhibit good craftsmanship and the appropriate use of materials, including the wood siding and metal covered roof.

Environmental Value
The General Manager’s House maintains an unchanged relationship to its site and reinforces the character of its industrial setting at the Bear Creek Compound. The structure is familiar to those within the immediate area.

Sources: Joan Mattie, Bear Creek Industrial Complex, Bear Creek, Yukon, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, Building Report 89-008; General Manager’s Residence (Building 20), Bear Creek Compound, Yukon, Heritage Character Statement, 89-008.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the General Manager’s House should be respected, for example: the simple and functional nature of its design, and its overall good workmanship and appropriate use of materials; its present-day use as a visitors’ centre, which is part of an effort to interpret the former mining complex; its original form and materials, including a simple log construction with an overhanging gable roof supported on wood brackets; the features of the form, construction, and materials of its two-storey addition that unify it with the site’s other buildings: its wood-frame structure, its horizontal wood siding, and its metal-covered gable roof; the residential expression of its two porches and the arrangement and detailing of the windows; the large open interior of the log section of the house, with its exposed log interior walls; its comfortable relationship with the other structures and landscape features of the site due to its simple form, materials, detailing, and colour scheme, in particular the residential grouping at the north side of the open yard.

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

The oldest section of the General Manager's Residence (Building #20) is a simple log house constructed between 1912 and 1929 by the Canadian Klondike Mining Company. Like the other structures of the Bear Creek industrial complex, it was taken over by the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation (YCGC), which established a service facility for gold mining operations there. A screened porch was added to the east side in the 1940s. Around 1959, the basement was deepened and enlarged, and a two-storey wood-frame addition was constructed at the north end of the original structure. Operations at the Bear Creek complex ceased in 1966, and Parks Canada, its present custodian, acquired the site in 1975. The General Manager's Residence was stabilized in 1988, when the north foundation wall was replaced. In recent years, it has served as a visitors' reception centre.

Reasons for designation

The General Manager's Residence is a 'Recognized' Federal Heritage Building because of its historical, architectural, and environmental values:

As part of the Bear Creek complex, the General Manager's Residence is associated with the corporate phase of Yukon's gold mining history. It is one of the oldest extant structures and is thus linked to the Canadian Klondike Mining Company's operations, as well as to those of the YCGC. It also represents a prominent example of residential development at the village-like mining service facility.

The General Manager's Residence is an example of log construction typical of the Dawson area, adapted to meet changing needs at the Bear Creek complex. The rustic log walls of the original one-storey construction are painted dark brown with white trim, and exhibit good craftsmanship. The south-facing gable end, with its deep roof overhang and wood brackets, presents a domestic aspect to the large open yard, and this is enhanced by the welcoming, albeit severely detailed, front verandah. The two-storey addition, which is similar in form and materials to other buildings on the site, is clad with horizontal wood siding and topped by a corrugated sheet metal gable roof. The main entry is off the screened porch on the east side.

The General Manager's Residence reinforces the residential character of this functionally obsolete but remarkably intact village-like mining service facility, with its 80 structures and landscape features relating to large-scale mechanical placer mining. Like the other main buildings, it faces the large open yard. Located at the north side, it is part of the mostly residential ensemble that contrasted with the trade, warehouse, and administration buildings opposite.

Character-defining elements

The following character-defining elements of the General Manager's residence should be respected:
· The simple and functional nature of its design, and its overall good workmanship and appropriate use of
materials.
· Its present-day use as a visitors' centre, which is part of an effort to interpret the former mining complex.
· Its original form and materials, including a simple log construction with an overhanging gable roof supported
on wood brackets.
· The features of the form, construction, and materials of its two-storey addition that unify it with the site's
other buildings: its wood-frame structure, its horizontal wood siding, and its metal-covered gable roof.
· The residential expression of its two porches and the arrangement and detailing of the windows.
· The large open interior of the log section of the house, with its exposed log interior walls.
· Its comfortable relationship ' due to its simple form, materials, detailing, and colour scheme ' with the other
structures and landscape features of the site, in particular the residential grouping at the north side of the
open yard.