Building Location:
404 Hanson Street
Whitehorse, YT
Location Context:
All but one lot in this block was at one time owned by CP Airlines. The apartment building on the corner was also built by the airline to house employees. The concentration of this style and type of construction makes the streetscape an important and intact example worthy of consideration as a whole. Commercial development potential may threaten the existing housing stock
Description:
One-storey Pan Abode House
Architectural History:
Pan abodes are one-storey homes with simple gable roofs. The concrete foundation has a basement with an exterior basement stair. The roof is covered by cedar shingles.
Cultural History:
This house exists alongside several identical houses in the block of Hanson Street between 4th and 5th Avenues. They are prefabricated houses which were erected by Canadian Pacific Air Lines in 1944 on block 32, lots 7-10 and block 33, lots 1-6. Identical houses exist at 406, 408, 409, and 412 Hanson Street. Others located at 402, 407, and 412 have been destroyed by fire. The last house on the block, 411 Hanson Street, is also a prefabricated house, but is a slightly smaller version, and has been extensively renovated. The house at 410 was moved across the street to 407 Hanson Street.
These buildings along with a two-storey apartment block located at the corner of Hanson Street and Fourth Avenue, were used by the airline to house their flight crews and employees. They are curently used as rental housing.
Pan abode style structures became a popular and efficient system of housing in Whitehorse during the 1940’s and were later used in different parts of the Yukon. Transported to Whitehorse by rail, these integral wall/structure buildings could be erected quickly and with relative ease. CP Air, Taylor & Drury and White Pass were among the companies who purchased these buildings to house their employees. A few basic layouts were used in the Whitehorse area, of which several examples remain.