Where every room has its story

Open Seasonally

The Michener House Museum is open from Victoria Day Weekend to Labour Day Weekend annually to the public for live heritage demos and tours.

CONACT US

Location

Michener House Museum & Gardens

OPEN Victoria Day to Labour Day
5036 – 51 Street (Alberta Street)
Lacombe, AB

(403) 782-3933
[email protected]

The Michener House is a Municipal and Provincial Historic Resource. It was built in 1894 as the Village of Lacombe Methodist Church Parsonage and is the oldest residency left in Lacombe today.

Today it is historically significant as the birthplace of Right Honourable Roland Michener, former Governor General of Canada, and as the parsonage of his father, Edward. The house also illustrates the important first phase of the town’s development, pre-WWI.

More information can be found on the Canada’s Historic Places website.

Learn about the Heritage Learning Garden initiative here.

Historic Background

After the departure of the Michener family, the house passed to successive ministers of the Methodist church, was expanded with an addition to the rear in 1918, and subsequently converted for use as a church hall.
The church itself was also used as a hall after the congregation joined with that of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lacombe to form St. Andrew’s United Church in 1922. In later years the church saw service as the Lacombe’s Boy Scout Hall, before it was finally demolished in 1984 and is the parking lot directly south of the present-day Heritage Learning Garden.

In an effort to save the Michener House, the Lacombe & District Historical Society was born in 1971. The building was declared a Provincial Historic Resource in 1977 and was restored to its original appearance prior to its opening as the Michener House Museum in 1984.

Restoration Work

The Michener House has undergone an in-depth and lengthy restoration process, including in the 1980s, early 2000s, and most recently in 2023.

The earliest renovations included updating the plumbing, electrical, and heating systems, as well as rebuilding the porch and portico (with the original materials) and a year-long debate on how best to move and restore the interior staircase to its original location. The exterior of the house was painted white with brown trim and the porch was painted grey-blue to match the upstairs flooring.

Financial support from both the Provincial and Municipal Governments allowed for the replacement of the roof with cedar shingles in 2014 and siding repairs in 2022.

The flashing and high-impact points of the building were also repaired in 2022 by Denzil Paterson of Central Valley Furniture. The house is now presented as it would have been during the Michener family’s time in 1899-1900, with both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

In 2023 renovations took place inside of the house to reinstate an original doorway on the second floor, uncover the hardwood floor in the 1918 addition, install overhead lighting throughout, and perform general maintenance on the plaster walls.

Contact information, hours and location for the
Michener House Museum