Historic S.E. house to be preserved

Plans are underway to preserve one of the few stately houses still standing in Victoria Park, a southeast neighbourhood that was once home to well-heeled Calgarians.

The Queen Anne-style house on 12th Avenue and Macleod Trail S.E. was a ritzy mansion when it was built in 1905 by clothing entrepreneur Enoch Samuel Sales.

But Enoch Sales house, as it became known, is now boarded up and in disrepair, said Dan Van Leeuwen, who owns the property. 

He said the plan is to hoist the house and move it a few dozen meters west, closer to Macleod Trail. It would then be restored and transformed into a high-end restaurant, Van Leeuwen said.

"I think in Victoria Park, unfortunately, because of the way the neighbourhood gentrified — and a lot of homes became dilapidated, were used for all sorts of nefarious purposes — we've lost so much of it," he said.

"But if you lose all your past and heritage, you're really saying ‘well, all we are is a brand new city’. And I don't think that's the way we should look at things."