Manitoba Municipal Heritage Site No. 333

 

Ens Homestead
141Reinland Avenue
Reinland Village

Ens Homestead

Designation Date:  June 26, 2008
Designation Authority:  R.M. of Staley
Present Owner:  Privately Owned

The Ens Homestead, a well-preserved collection of unpretentious farm structures in a village setting, authentically illustrates how Mennonites from Russia organized their early settlements in southern Manitoba. The homestead’s location in Reinland, a village amidst agricultural fields, and its main structure, a large integrated housebarn, differ markedly from the building types and dispersed settlement practices followed by most other prairie homesteaders. The well-maintained housebarn, in particular, is a Mennonite adaptation of a centuries-old vernacular European building form, utilitarian in design, materials, construction and features, and suited to being located on a village lot. The dwelling’s upper meat-smoking chamber has special local value because it was the only one available in Reinland. The entire site, tidy, intact and spatially well organized, is an excellent example of a pioneer Mennonite farm, developed by Abram Rempel, occupied by his descendants for eight decades and operated by the family as a heritage homestead for visitors since 1995.

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