Red River Frame or 'poteau sur sole' (post on sill) was a popular building construction technique used in the Red River Settlement in the 19th Century. The building style was characterized by a dressed timber structure with a horizontal log infill. The spaces between the logs were filled or 'chinked' with clay and straw. The exterior would either be whitewash

Whitewash

Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a very low-cost type of paint made from slaked lime and chalk . Various other additives are also used...

ed with a limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

/water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 plaster mixture, or in later years, the exterior would be covered by board siding. This style was popular because it could use smaller trees for logs — the longest trees needed were for the vertical logs. The Farm Manager's House at Lower Fort Garry

Lower Fort Garry

Lower Fort Garry was built in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company on the western bank of the Red River, north of the original Fort Garry, which is now in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Treaty 1 was signed there....

, the William Brown House at the Historical Museum of St James - Assiniboia, the historical Fur Warehouse at Fort St. James National Historic Site of Canada and Riel House in Winnipeg, Manitoba are excellent examples of Red River Frame construction.