As technology progresses to be sleeker, the stylization of houses follows. Modernism in houses, categorised by clean lines and simple geometric shapes, has grown popular as a way to denote wealth and sophistication, which is ironically opposite of what was assumed in times like the Victorian Era, where intricate designs and non-organic shapes dominated.
Although modernist houses are gorgeous in their own right, I believe we should also admire the older residential buildings in Ontario who not only embody the popular design trends of their times but also the history of the developing province. Here are a few of the oldest residential properties in Ontario. 7015 Pond Street, Mississauga, ON Constructed 1840 as a commission by Francis Silverthorn, 7015 Pond Street is one of the oldest homes in the Meadowvale Village area. Silverthorn, a prolific character in Meadowvale history, was thought to have built this home, and owned this home before it became a Methodist Church in the 1840s. It was later purchased and returned to being a residential building. As of October 2012, the current owners purchased the home in 1987, making them the “sixth registered owners of this property”. 7015 Pond Street is a one-and-a-half storey house, meaning that the second floor is only half the size of the first and usually placed off to one side of the house. Some of the original features were maintained including the 12 over 12 pattern windows on the front of the house and the original stucco finishing. Newer renovations, like the board and batten—where “thin strips of wood moulding are placed over the seams of panel boards”—are set in the back of house so that the street-facing portion remains true to the original. 4 Lucinda Court, Brampton, ON As many military servants did in the early 1800s, Captain Abraham Odlum received the Royal Land Grant in the Toronto Gore area, which is now part of modern day Mississauga and Brampton. Some historians suggest that Odlum’s son built the home after the captain's death in 1838. The Brampton Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Resources, describes the home as a “rare Georgian style Tudor home”. While Georgian style homes are characterised by symmetry, sash windows, a “six panelled front door” and pale colours, the Tudor style used thin pieces of glass, as it was very expensive at the time, “steeply-pitched roofs” and the jettying technique where the upper floors extended past the lower floors. These two styles were centuries apart, making 4 Lucinda Court a unique and interesting property in Brampton history. 469 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, ON John Cox, a veteran of the American Revolutionary, received the land where 469 Broadview currently stands from Lieutenant Governor John Graves Simcoe. At the time, the plot was located in a much more rural area compared to where the home is located now, so Cox began building the cottage far from other homes. Mary, Cox’s wife, sold the cottage after his death in 1807 and it began to receive renovations since then. 469 Broadview’s plot was originally 100 hectares, equal to 1 square kilometre, and “stretched from present-day Danforth to Lake Ontario”. The home was first styled after a log house with long horizontal logs to a Regency Cottage, a one-story home characterised by a symmetrical front, tall and thin windows and balconies with intricate iron fencing. The original wood shingles and most of the logs were covered with the green and white logs that exist on the home to this day. Comments are closed.
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AuthorLarry Weltman is a Customer Service Representative for AccessEasyFunds Limited, or AEF, an Ontario-based firm Archives
November 2022
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