Notice of Intention to Designate - 395 Lakeshore Road East

On October 16, 2023, Oakville Town Council resolved to pass a Notice of Intention to Designate the following property under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18, as amended, as a property of cultural heritage value and interest:

Detmold House
395 Lakeshore Road East
Lot 122, Plan 113; Town of Oakville
 

Description of Property

The property at 395 Lakeshore Road East is located on the north side of Lakeshore Road East, between Douglas and Watson Avenues in the Brantwood neighbourhood. The property contains a c.1920 one-and-a-half-storey frame house. 
 

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

 

Design and Physical Value

The subject house has design and physical value as a representative example of Bungalow architecture influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in Oakville. The house was built between 1919 and 1920 with Craftsman Bungalow-style elements such as: jerkinhead side gabled roof; projecting eaves with wooden brackets on the front porch; brick plinths and their unique wooden column designs emulating sidelights with wooden detailing, along with the wooden beam above the columns; the wooden porch railing with square pickets; the front entrance door; the Arts and Crafts casement windows with multi-paned transom windows on the south, west, and east elevations; and the brick chimney. 
 

Historical and Associative Value

The home has cultural heritage value for its direct associations with the development of the local residential area known as ‘Brantwood’, and still retains exterior heritage aspects that have lent to the neighbourhood’s character over the last 100 years. Its presence contributes to the story of Oakville’s early 20th century residential development that was defined by large lots with well-designed Arts and Crafts era homes built by well-to-do families. Several significant people were listed as living in the house, such as locally known Arthur Gibson the railroad builder and contractor, and internationally known Mollie McGee, the first accredited female correspondent for a Canadian and American newspaper, noted as a “pioneer Canadian woman journalist” by The Globe and Mail.
 

Contextual Value

The subject property has contextual value because it defines, supports and maintains the character of the Brantwood neighbourhood. It was one of the earliest buildings in the neighbourhood and still retains exterior heritage aspects that have lent to the neighbourhood’s character over the last 100 years. It is physically, functionally, visually, and historically linked to the surrounding residential neighbourhood and places the Brantwood area’s origins in a specific timeframe. As an anchor point in the Brantwood neighbourhood, this house helps to define the original Arts and Crafts aesthetic of Brantwood and continues to support and maintain the character of the neighbourhood.
 

Description of Heritage Attributes

Key heritage attributes of the property at 395 Lakeshore Road East that exemplify its cultural heritage value, as they relate to the historic one-and-a-half-storey house, include:

• The massing and form of the one-and-a-half-storey building with side gable jerkinhead roof;
• The use of traditional stucco cladding or wooden cladding;
• Projecting eaves and wooden brackets under the porch eaves;
• Front covered porch with brick plinths and unique square wooden columns with wooden design element, slightly arched wooden beam above the columns, and low wooden railing with square pickets;
• Wooden front entrance door;
• Fenestration of the windows on the first floor of the south, east, and west elevations;
• Historic wooden casement windows with multi-paned wooden transom windows above and accompanying wooden storm windows and wooden trim;
• The use of multi-paned wood windows in the Arts and Crafts style with wooden trim elsewhere on the house and;
• Brick chimney.

Any objection to this designation must be filed no later than November 17, 2023.  Objections must be directed to the Town Clerk at townclerk@oakville.ca or 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, Ontario L6H 0H3. The objection must include the reasons for the objection and all relevant facts.

Further information respecting this proposed designation is available from the Town of Oakville. Any inquiries may be directed to Carolyn Van Sligtenhorst, Supervisor of Heritage Conservation at 905-845-6601, ext.3875 (TTY 905-338-4200), or by email at carolyn.van@oakville.ca.

Issued at the Town of Oakville on October 18, 2023.