Sod house-owning family to receive heritage award

Sod houses once dotted the Prairies, but now only one remains standing near Kindersley, Sask.

It belongs to Lenore McTaggart's family. Her grandfather, James Addison, was a carpenterfrom Liverpool, England, who had no homesteading experience when hebuilt the house106 years ago.

Later this month, her family's longtime stewardship of the home will be recognizedwith a heritage award from the lieutenant governor.

"The family's very proud of my grandfather's accomplishment," McTaggartrecentlytold CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition.

"When my mom was growing up and in high school they were teasing her and the family members saying, 'Oh you just live in a soddy."

Comfortable home

McTaggart opens the home to tours every summer. Her mother, who died in 2008, was the last person in their family to live therefull time.

She said the interior has been completely renovated, and features running water and electricity. The exterior, too, has been recovered with engineered wood siding. However, there's no central heating in the two-storey structure, but just one propane stove.

"It's very comfortable," she said.

Looking for new owner

McTaggart, who's in her70s, is trying to have the local town take over maintainingthe home, which has been designated as a national historic site.

"I find it kind of hard now to do all the work," she said.

"All my cousins are older than me. The younger ones just don't have the time to get as involved as we would like them."

McTaggartsaid the town is trying to organize a group called Friends of the Addison Sod Home to hire a heritage conservation structural engineer to assess the structure and deal with any deterioration.