Born on June 5, 1939, in High River, Alberta, Joe Clark served as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party from 1976 until 1983. In 1979, he became head of a minority government and Canada's youngest Prime Minister. Only six months after he took office, however, his government fell on a budget question. In the ensuing general elections in March of 1980, Clark's party was defeated by the Liberals. At nine months in length, his was one of, if not THE, shortest tenures in Canadian history. From 1993 to 1996, he served as special representative to the secretary-general of the United Nations for Cyprus.
The Joe Clark House is today an Alberta Provincial Historic Resource, the Historic Places Canada page for which is reproduced in part below.
THE CLARK RESIDENCE
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Clark Residence is an early twentieth century, one and one-half storey, wood frame, brick-clad, house located on four lots along Macleod Trail in the Town of High River. A wrap-around porch adorns the front and side of the house, while a large manicured lawn lies to the east of the house.
HERITAGE VALUE
The heritage value of the Clark Residence lies chiefly in its association with three generations of the Clark family. Additional significance may be found in the house's representation of middle-class domestic life in small town Alberta during the early to mid-twentieth century.
The Clark Residence was built in 1909 by newspaperman Charles Clark Sr., founding publisher of the highly esteemed local newspaper, the High River Times. Built soon after his marriage, the house became home to three generations of the Clark family. His son, Charles Clark Jr., solidified the reputation of High River Times as a serious, albeit small, Canadian newspaper. Most importantly, the house was the boyhood home of Charles Joseph ("Joe") Clark, who served as the sixteenth Prime Minister of Canada from 1979 to 1980.
Architecturally and aesthetically, the house typifies the eclectic style and comfort sought after by increasingly prosperous middle-class families in twentieth century Alberta.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
The character-defining elements of the Clark Residence include such features as:
- size, form, and massing;
- hipped roof with shed dormers;
- extant timber window frames and sashes;
- double-hung one-over-one windows on the first floor;
- location on its original site;
- the wrap-around porch and porch columns;
- belvedere-type roof element with windows to the rear of the house;
- the interior layout and room configuration;
- interior elements including original woodwork, mouldings, and trim.
From Historic Places Canada