The building began life in 1889 as a log house. In 1913 an ambitious and enterprising Belgian carpenter bought the log building and began covering its exterior with local river rocks from nearby Lee’s Creek. With the original log housed now "cobblestoned" he continued adding rooms and river stones. Following is a more complete story of the house, now a Bed & Breakfast, by its present owners.
Cobblestone Manor
The Joseph Young family built the original log house in 1889. In 1913, Henry Hoet, a Belgian finishing carpenter, bought the log house and began to build out of local river rocks, rare hardwoods and colorful stained glass, what is now the Cobblestone Manor.
Mr. Hoet covered the log house with rocks from nearby Lee’s Creek and then began building other rooms, finishing each before he began another. In the summer, he hauled the stones from the creek bed with a cart and in the winter on a sleigh, always accompanied by a large Newfoundland dog.
For the panels in the Stained Glass Room, Mr. Hoet bought hardwood woods from all over the world. The intricate ceiling tiles were made from scraps of rare wood from the Alberta Temple. To build the wooden Tiffany lights and bookshelves, Mr. Hoet imported from Italy, in the 1920’s the colorful stained glass.
The Golden Oak Room was built from 1920 to 1929, and was the last room constructed by Mr. Hoet. The delicate honeycomb design in the ceiling has 61 pieces of oak in each tile!
There are three stone fireplaces in the house. Unfortunately, only one fireplace is left that contains the original mixture of beeswax used by Mr. Hoet in applying a finish to these fireplaces.
We have been told by many that Mr. Hoet had a sweetheart and was building this appealing house for her. Sadly, his sweetheart never came to Canada, and Mr. Hoet never married. Fortunately, he left for us to enjoy, this fine masterpiece, this Labor of Love, this lovely home, which is now Cobblestone Manor.
This Cobblestone Manor has been designated as Alberta Historic Resource (Property), and will therefore be preserved as the heritage it is.
The Negrych family own and run the Cobblestone B&B and restaurant.
From the Cobblestone Manor