121 Kate Street - Private Residence

 © 2026, Christian Cassidy

Place: Private Residence
Address: 121 Kate Street
Constructed: 1882
Architect: Unknown

T. M. Fowler's Bird's Eye View of Winnipeg, 1881. Juno Street top right. (Source)

This house at 121 Kate Street, with its intricate brickwork, was built in 1882 for William Ashdown Sr.. He was the father of hardware tycoon and one-time mayor James Ashdown.

Lots around McDermot Avenue and Kate Street were once part of the A. G. B. Bannatyne estate and this section of it was sold off for development in 1881. It could be considered an early suburb of Winnipeg, offering close proximity to the commercial district around city hall but situated far enough from the hustle, bustle and pollution of its factories and warehouses to make it attractive for middle and upper middle class residents to live. 

The above excerpt from Fowler's 1881 Bird's Eye View of Winnipeg shows Juno Street under development.

September 23, 1882, Winnipeg Daily Sun

The Winnipeg Daily Sun of September 23, 1882, explored the housing being built in the neighborhood. It noted that this house, originally numbered 7 Kate Street, cost $4,200 and, “It has a spacious parlour, large kitchen, handsome library… It is nicely laid out and deserving of its occupant.” 

The property included a stable and out kitchen.

Google Maps showing back-to-back houses

The article went on to mention that George Ashdown, one of William's sons, was finishing up a house with a stable at 120 Juno Street. The two properties backed onto each other and extended through to Bannatyne Avenue, creating a little family compound.

The Ashdowns did not stay here long. By 1887, William Sr. was quite ill and had moved in with James. When James built his new home at 337 Broadway in 1889, both William and George reided there.

William Ashdown died in 1902 at the age of 84.

July 6, 1891, Winnipeg Tribune

John O'Donohue and family were the next residents of the home, circa 1890. Born in Ireland, he came to Winnipeg from London, Ontario and established a farm implement store on King Street. He lived here with his wife Ellsie, and daughters Kate, Hattie, Ida, and Baby, who ranged in age from 13 to 22. 

O'Donohue was a promoter of more Irish Catholic immigration to the West. He was on the executive of the local St. Patrick's Society and in 1894 was elected to the school board. Daughter Kate, a school teacher, became principal of Pinkham School in 1893.

Tragedy struck the family when their youngest daughter, Baby, died at the home in April 1892, aged 16. No cause of death was given. Perhaps as a result of her death, the family moved the following year to Balmoral Street.

March 6, 1882, Winnipeg Free Press

The next resident was photographer Israel Bennetto and family in 1893. At the time, Bonnetto and his wife, Anna Lauretta, were in their early thirties with two young children, Litta and Israel Jr.. A third, Marjory, was born in 1897. (Read more about Bennetto here.)

Bennetto was born in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1860 and came to Winnipeg in 1880, and soon opened Bennetto and Co. photography studio on Main Street. He was one of just four or five five photography firms listed in the street directories of the early 1880s.

By 1891, the studio was located at 436 Main Street and sold photography supplies and stock images of events and street scenes around the city. This was a common practice for photographers as an additional income stream and way to generate publicity for their services.

One of the most famous photos attributed to Bennetto and Co. is this iconic image of Louis Riel that is still used today. (It's unclear if it was Bennetto himself who took the shot.)

Bennetto ca. 1884, City of Winnipeg Archives

Bennetto was an executive member of the Knights of Pythius and dabbled in property speculation, as many businessmen did back then. He closed his studio in 1906 and spent most of his time in real estate.

A later newspaper recollection of the house's history from a former neighbour said that during the early Bennetto years, the property still extended to Bannatyne and the family kept a cow in the stable.

It appears that in later years, Bennetto subdivided parts of the property and sold them as residential lots.  Assessment records show that all of the houses along the north side of Bannatyne between Kate and Juno streets, and a house next door to 120 Juno, were built in 1903. The large apartment at Bannatyne and Kate, famous for being on the cover of the Guess Who's So Long Bannatyne album cover, was built in 1910. 

August 1917 classified ad, Winnipeg Tribune

After the Benettos, the Finch family moved in ca. 1911. It consisted of Mrs. Martha J. Finch, widow of James, and seven children ranging in age from 13 to 27. There was also an elderly couple, Robert and Sophie Austin, perhaps her parents(?), who lived here as well.

The Finches remained at the house until around 1915, then it sat empty for a year or two. When it came back on the market in 1917, it had been bought by investors and converted into suites.

Classified ads can be found in 1917 offering a main floor suite for rent, and the following year for two suites on the upper floor. 

December 30, 1920, Winnipeg Tribune

In 1920, the rooms were listed as "room and board", which meant that rent included "LH", (light housekeeping), and at least on meal per day. These services would have been provided by someone living in the main suite, often a housewife whose kids had moved out or a widow, as a way of earning extra income. 

During its time as a rental property, lodgers at 121 Kate included:

1917 - 1920: Frederick P. Dawson, a clerk at the railway mail service.

1919: Leopolde Caron, dressmaker. Emma Hansen, a telephone clerk.

1920: Walter Sellers, gardener, with his wife and at least one adult child. Margaret William, an Eatons clerk. Helen Zinger, a milner at Eatons. 

1925: Martin A. Young, an accountant at Dr. White Medical Co.. Charles Wilson, an Eatons employee. Charles Brewer, an Eatons employee.

January 20, 1976, Winnipeg Free Press

The next owner of the house was Jacob J. Hildebrand and his wife Katharina in 1932.  Hildebrand is listed as retired during his time here, and it is unclear what his occupation was, as his obituary is very brief.

A possible identity comes in the street directories of the late 1920s. There was a Jacob J. Hildebrand listed, who was the "special representative,  CN Express", the cargo division of the CNR. Around the same time, there were newspaper mentions of "J J Hildebrand" from Mennonite Immigration Aid of Winnipeg welcoming trains with new Mennonites arriving in Western Canada. This was likely the same man.

This J. J. Hildebrand, sometimes using the 121 Kate Street as an address, wrote several lengthy letters to the Editor of the Free Press and Tribune in the mid to late 1930s in favour of Germany's rising prominence in the world.

August 20, 1965, Winnipeg Free Press

The longest-term owners of the house were Erik and Tekla Moberg, who originated from Sweden. They arrived at 121 Kate in 1941 and raised five sons here. The couple were heavily involved in Grant Memorial Baptist Church

Mr. Moberg was a carpenter by trade, first an independent contractor, then working for the provincial government in the 1950s and 1960s. 

There was some excitement at the house in August 1965, when a neighbourhood youth decided to do some target practice in the nearby back lane. One of the bullets ricocheted and went through the kitchen window while Mrs. Moberg and one of her sons were in it. It narrowly missed Mrs. Moberg, who later told a Free Press reporter, "I'm five feet two and I'm glad of it."

Tekla died in 1969, and Erik lived here until shortly before his death in March 1987 at Princess Elizabeth Hospital at the age of 87. An estate sale was held at the house later that year.

June 6, 1987 Open House and, Winnipeg Free Press

The house was then sold to John Cardoso and family. (Likely this John Cardoso, who ran for public office several times.)

It was during this time that the house received a Grade II historical building designation from the city for being a fine example of what was a dwindling number of early 1880s Queen Anne brick residences. The designation allowed the owner to apply for a small grant to help renovate the property.

This, and hundreds of other lower-level listed buildings, were purged from the historic buildings list circa 2011, and it currently has no historical designation. This is the historical building assessment of the building originally written in 1988.

The house at 121 Kate Street still stands and is well maintained. Close-up images of the building and some interior shots can be found in the city's historical building assessment.