Yusep and Ruptash Residences

Edmonton's population grew by 62% between the 1940s and 1950s. Soldiers returned from the Second World War and started new families while many immigrants also settled here, enticed to the newly oil-rich province. The community of Newton was an industrial centre which attracted many such newcomers. Although the neighbourhood had been initially established in 1910 and 1911 as two subdivisions called City Park Annex and Industrial Heights, over half the homes in Newton were constructed between 1946 and 1960 during the post-war population surge. In 1953 Nicholas Yusep and his brother-in-law Steve Ruptash purchased six lots in Newton, attempting to profit from the housing shortage created by the boom. They moved six houses from their original location on the corner of 102 Avenue and 105 Street to these new lots. The houses had been on two large parcels of land purchased by Loveseth Limited who wanted property on which to build an automotive garage. The City charged Yusep and Ruptash a deposit for the move and returned the money to the pair once they relocated the homes and brought them up to the current building code. The six homes were all sold between 1954 and 1955, but their orientation made a big difference in the selling price. Yusep and Ruptash sold the east-facing houses at 12022-54 Street and 12030-54 Street to Harry Krentz for $4,200, and to William and Ethel Winick for $4,744 respectively. But the homes facing west at 12035-55 Street and 12039-55 Street were purchased for $7,500 by William George and Mary Low Forrest and for $7,000 by Robert Walker respectively. The other two residences were sold for an unknown amount. The home at 12026-54 Street was purchased by Gerben Land in 1954, and Vern Wood purchased the home at 12043-55 Street in 1956.

Each of these six Edwardian style homes were originally constructed downtown in about 1910 by Robert R. Rogers. These houses were really a vernacular approach to the style. They were less ornate, could be built quickly, and were more affordable than traditionally lavish Edwardian dwellings - all desirable traits at a time when Edmonton was experiencing its first housing shortage. The Yusep and Ruptash Residences are one-and-a-half storey rectangular wooden-framed houses on concrete foundations. They have front-gabled eaves and regularly placed single assembly windows. All had their original front porches removed and glass-bottle stucco cladding added upon relocation. The Wood Residence has since been finished with lapped vinyl siding. Similarly, each home has a one-storey shed-roof rear wing, but the Wood Residence has been renovated to include an extensive rear addition. Their rooflines are virtually identical with minor distinctions; the Land and Winick Residences have decorative shingle accents in the gable peaks, while the peak of the Forrest Residence features cornice board. Each home has hipped cornice returns save for the Winick and Wood Residence. The Walker Residence, with its single-storey gabled addition on the south side is the only home that no longer has a gabled-roof wall dormer. Together the six Yusep and Rupash Residences are a valuable representation of affordable home ownership in two major population booms in Edmonton's history.