This is the first house we rented as a couple in Garneau. This is where our first baby came home. Since there were three bedrooms upstairs and one in the basement we used the dining room as a bedroom and rented out the rest. Some of the people boarded with us and some cooked on their own, so there was always lots of action in the kitchen (which opened off the back door). We rented to anybody but mostly to University students as we were only two blocks off campus. Built in 1926 (by a speculator, an old neighbour confided to us) it had a brick basement and an old gravity coal furnace converted to burn natural gas. It's a good thing fuel was cheap in those days because the heating was inefficient and the insulation was almost nil. There was a huge cast iron bathtub in the only bathroom, which was on the second floor. Youth was definitely a factor for basement dwellers as it was a long run up two flights of stairs and through the kitchen and front hallway.
It was a one and one-half story house so it had only two bedrooms on the main floor and one upstairs. To sort of compensate for that it had a suite with a bathroom in the basement. The furnace was also forced air and a lot more efficient. The kitchen was small but the dining/living room was huge. There was a gas fireplace in the living room with a beautiful (once I had discovered and polished it) copper backing. We used a lot of steel wool and elbow grease to dig out the hardwood floors, but it was worth it. We lived there for two years until we moved North.
Since leaving Edmonton I have lived exclusively in mobile homes, some rented, some owned. This is our 14'x70' blue and white residence in Wabasca, nicknamed "THE GHETTO".
At Keg River we had a 12x60 foot three bedroom mobile home in greeen and white. That's it behind the FIAT 128 and my daughter and I.
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