Built by Sarah H McConnell in 1912, the Cinnamon House is a rare example of a duplex built in the Edwardian-style during the early years of Calgary, and is one of the few remaining examples in Alberta.
Dreams and a Railroad
Sarah’s father was killed on the train track near Lethbridge due to a sudden brake explosion and the accident was all kept very hush. Sarah was able to fulfill her dads wishes and build this CP boarding house which housed as many as 38 employees at any given time in its early years. We were able to obtain this info and excited to be in contact after finding Sarah’s descendants on Ancestry in 2022.
During the dirty thirties it appears the bank owned the duplex and its history is vague.
Why “Cinnamon”?
We have named it the Cinnamon House in honor of our home’s longest occupants, the Cinnamon family. William & Maggie Cinnamon were farmers from Hanna AB, and moved to Calgary for their retirement in 1946 and saw a need for larger spaces in town and bought up local barns and elevators while residing in the 1007 side and maintaining their property rentals. Their son George continued to live here after his parents passed until 2006, George was a bachelor and never had children. In 2006 the extended family came to town to sell the property as land value only as it was in a very poor state.
A new life in 2008
The new purchaser quickly realized that this unique property should not be torn down and saw a need to rebuild it. They attempted to turn it into a four-plex but the city would not allow that so it stayed as an original side-by-side and was then instead lovingly restored with new studs, beams, electrical, plumbing, windows and other minimal changes. The vintage sideboard cabinet near the main thermostat is original to the house.
Our Story
We were new to Calgary in 2006 and way before we ever owned it we bought some antiques at the Cinnamon’s estate sale! We admired the property for over a decade and when we starting looking for a new home we discovered that our favourite gem in Ramsay was for sale – the rest is Our history!
