Perhaps no architect is more synonymous with Vancouver than Arthur Erickson. From the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia to Robson Square to Simon Fraser’s University Burnaby Mountain campus, Erickson’s architectural signature is all over the city. Less well known — and only recently rediscovered — is Erickson’s singular residential contribution to Alberta: Dyde house.
Built in 1960, the house takes its name from Henry Alexander and Dorothy Dyde, who purchased a large piece of land in the aspen parkland southwest of Edmonton. The Dydes sought to protect the area, most of which is now the University of Alberta Botanic Gardens, from encroaching development — just one example of the Dydes’ foresight. But the couple reserved 50 acres for themselves, where they planned to build a summer home.
As they searched for the right architect to design their retreat, the Dydes were given Erickson’s name, who was then a young professor of architecture at the University of British Columbia. Though they were generous patrons of the arts, the Dydes had no way of knowing who Erickson would become. Dyde house became one of his earliest projects — and his first outside B.C.
The house and the land it sits on were gifted to the U of A in 2014 by the Dydes’ descendants. Since then, word of its existence has spread, thanks in part to a 2023 documentary from Edmonton-based production studio Sticks and Stones.
Despite some structural damage, due in part to classic Alberta weather, the house is fairly well preserved. In order to keep it that way — and to hopefully one day restore it to its full glory — the West Coast Modern League, a Vancouver-based non-profit dedicated to celebrating and protecting architecture along the North American west coast, is helping the U of A raise funds to preserve Dyde house. If successful, the house will be around for generations to come.
Though it is an early marker of Erickson’s brilliance, Dyde house is also a symbol of the Dyde family’s philanthropy and their commitment to nature and the arts — all of which are worth preserving.
