A documentary film on the historic Dyde House in Edmonton, Alberta—accompanied by rare tours of the house—will be making a debut during MADE’s Edmonton Design Week on October 12.
The Dyde House, which is a modernist home designed by Arthur Erickson, was built in 1960 and sits on 50 acres of land.
According to Erickson’s website, the house is surrounded by 190 acres which were all purchased in 1958 by Henry Alexander (Sandy) Dyde.
A total of 80 acres were later donated by the Dydes to the University of Alberta to establish the Devonian Botanic Garden, which opened in 1959. One year later, in 1960, Erickson was hired to design their country home on the property.
The additional 110 acres were sold to the university by the Dydes in 1975 and 30 of those acres were used to build the Kurimoto Japanese Gardens, among other buildings. The remaining 50 acres containing the house designed by Erickson were gifted by the family to the Devonian Botanic Garden in 2014 to fulfil Sandy Dyde’s wish.
For the last eight years, architect Barry Johns has been working on a file pertaining to the Dyde House, and has worked alongside Trevor Boddy and Sticks & Stones Productions for the last four to shine light on this project through a documentary film.
Johns and Boddy worked together to serve as researchers, script, and visuals consultants, and are the executive producers of the film. Both are also directors of the Arthur Erickson Foundation.
In 2021, the duo aired a short Zoom video screening of Dyde House of the RAIC, as well as at an international Historic Buildings Preservation Conference. Sticks & Stones in Edmonton recently finished the production of the full length documentary, which has been nominated for seven 2023 Alberta Media Production Industries Association awards, and was given the “Best Documentary Over 30 Minutes” 2023 prize at the Alberta Film Awards on October 3.
The documentary will be premiering on October 12, 2023, at the Art Gallery of Alberta during MADE Edmonton Design Week. The screening will be followed by guided tours on site that weekend. A panel discussion and Q&A that Johns and Boddy will moderate will also follow the screening of the film.
The duo also hopes to air it on public television and throughout the profession to build awareness.
The public will also be able to participate in a fundraising tour that will include the 1962 Dyde House interior, the Erickson-designed gardens surrounding it, and The Aga Khan Gardens and The Diwan. “Should the University proceed with building stabilization and conservation work, it may be the last time in a long time where the public will be able to see the interior as Erickson intended,” notes Boddy. Tickets for the tour are available through the AEF website.
To purchase tickets to the documentary screening, click here.