Brown House
3180 Portage Avenue

Brown House was built for William Brown. Born in Scotland, Brown would eventually become employed with the Hudson's Bay Company as a labourer in 1830, when he boarded a ship for York Factory. After 11 with the HBC, he retired to the Red River settlement with a land grant of 155 acres.

It was here he built the four bedroom, oak log home. The house as subsequently whitewashed and the roof completed with wooden shingles and imported glass windows, in a style of construction, which originated in Scandinavia, and was introduced in North America by the settlers of New France. In the mid 1970s the Brown house was relocated to an urban setting in St. James, next to the former St. James City Hall, as part of the Historical Museum of St. James. Some of the Brown's family furniture remains on display in the home.

*Historical Buildings Committee