Michelsen Farmstead

Michelsen Farmstead
The restored Michelsen Farmstead.
General information
Architectural style	Victorian
Town or city	2nd Ave. & 6th St. Stirling, Alberta
Country	Canada
Coordinates	49°29′53″N 112°31′30″W / 49.498°N 112.525°W / 49.498; -112.525
Construction started	1904
Completed	1912
Demolished	Provincial Historic Site Museum
Client	Stirling Historical Society & Village of Stirling
Technical details
Structural system	Wood

The Andreas Michelsen Farmstead, originally built in 1902 by Andreas himself as a two-room house. In 1912 the house was added onto, to make 7 rooms in total, little has changed since. The homestead consists of a 1.5 storey Victorian style farmhouse with wraparound porch, various outbuildings; including a barn, granary, calving shed, coal shed, machine shed, corrals and pens, and an outhouse; and landscape elements such as a dugout, cistern and filter, storage cellar, and garden. Located at the corner of 2nd Ave. & 6th Street, on the west half of four blocks in the northwest corner of the National Historic Site of Stirling, Alberta.

The home remained in the Michelsen family until 1995 when the village in partnership with the Stirling Historical Society bought the homestead to turn into an interpretative center. In 2001 the homestead was registered as a Provincial Historic Resource and added to the Alberta Register of Historic Places. The Stirling Historical Society has since restored the property back to its original 19th-century style, and the farmstead is now a museum, depicting life as it was from 1900-1930s. Each summer the Historical Society holds day-camps for children and an old fashioned harvest dance which is held on the grounds of the Michelsen Farmstead every October.

From the very beginning it was clear that the new settlement of Stirling was expected to be economically self-sufficient. Allotment of 2.5 acre building plots were designed specifically so the individual owners could provide their own food. Equally important, but sometimes overlooked, was the expectation that the newly established village should be a community in the fullest sense. This must of course, include cultural outlets to relieve the monotony of daily labour.

The ability to provide for themselves culturally as well as physically, contributed to the strength and self-reliance that was a sustaining force for Stirling throughout the years.

Entertainment at the turn of the century had to be locally provided, for travel was slow and difficult. House parties were the norm for the early settlers. Friends would gather at various homes for visiting, card playing, or spontaneous music. Locals would play the bones for rhythm, or the violin for a quick dance, others were known for singing.

The Michelsen home was a favorite gathering place for many years, and the family hosted my dances typical of those house parties. Though by today’s standards the space was limited, moving furniture and rolling back rugs in the parlor and dining rooms created enough room to dance one square. The fiddler would lean against the doorway between the two rooms and play whatever the dancers desired. If the group was larger and the weather was good, the dancers were moved to the loft of the barn. Michelsen barn dances were popular for more than 75 years.