Architectural History: 

This one storey log dwelling has an L-shaped plan and a gable roof. One addition was originally a tent frame which was later built into a wood frame. 

Several additions include a living room on east side with a fireplace in 1948 and a concrete foundation. The exterior has been renovated and both more foundation work and vinyl siding was completed in 1995.

Cultural History: 

This lot was originally sold to a miner named Richard Harvey in 1903. The house is log, but likely began as a tent shack. The walls consist of log, covered with wood shingles, then covered with aluminum siding. In its most recent renovation, vinyl siding replaced the aluminum so that the house bears a scant resemblance to its original incarnation. 

The house was occupied from 1919 to 1922 by the Frank Berton, a mining recorder, and his family. Berton moved to Whitehorse in 1919, the same year as his now-famous son Pierre’s birth. 

The house was next occupied in 1948 by Gus Muirhead, chief clerk for White Pass. The Muirheads added the living room and fireplace, which contains native copper ore in its design.

Biographical Information: 

Frank Berton: worked for the government in Dawson City prior to WWI, while his wife was employed as a school teacher. After leaving to fight in the war, he returned and was transferred to Whitehorse in 1919. They lived in the house between 1919-1921. Their son, Pierre, was born in 1919 and spent a few of his formative years in the house. In 1922 Frank was transferred back to Dawson and then Mayo.