Notice of intention to designate - 389 Lakeshore Road East

On August 14, 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:

Ecclestone House
389 Lakeshore Road East
PT Lots 120 and 121, Plan 113; Town of Oakville
 

Description of Property

The property at 389 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 circa 1909 one-and-a-half storey frame cottage.
 

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

 

Design and Physical Value

The subject house has design and physical value as an example of a summer cottage with Tudor Revival architectural influences. The home was built around 1909 and was designed by J.H. Stanford, with characteristics of Tudor Revival such as its low-slipped roof, wooden shingle cladding, recessed entry, half-timbering with stucco in the front gable, and bell-cast overhang with exposed eaves.
 

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’, an early 20th century subdivision of Oakville. Developed in the early 1900s, this subdivision was designed with large lots and mature trees, and was sold to city dwellers as a secluded, beautiful and modern neighbourhood in which to construct their own cottage or stately home. The home has several people of note associated with it, such as: Isaac Warcup, a miller in early Oakville who bought the property from the Bank of Hamilton; Walter Valentine Ecclestone, a major employee at the T. Eaton Company in Toronto who had the house built when he owned the property; J.H. Stanford, a prolific architect out of Toronto who designed the summer home for Ecclestone; and Adrian Dingle, the Canadian artist who grew up in the house.  
 

Contextual Value

The subject property has contextual value because it supports and maintains the historical residential character of the Brantwood neighbourhood and even the nearby First and Second Streets Heritage Conservation District across the road. It was one of the earliest buildings in Brantwood 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.
 

Description of Heritage Attributes

Key heritage attributes of the property at 389 Lakeshore Road East that exemplify its cultural heritage value, as they relate to the one-and-a-half storey house, include:
 

• The massing and form of the building with its low-sloped roof with steep peaks and west-facing dormer;
• Horizontal wood siding and cedar shingle cladding;
• Half timbering with stucco in the south gable;
• Recessed front entry under enclosed front porch;
• Bell-cast second-storey walls with exposed eaves beneath on front elevation;
• Fenestration on all elevations, excluding the east dormer; 
• The use of multi-paned windows throughout the house, based on the historic window designs; and
• Wood window surrounds, including lintels, sills, and trimwork.

Any objection to this designation must be filed no later than September 15, 2023.  Objections should be directed to the Town Clerk, 1225 Trafalgar Road, Oakville, Ontario L6H 0H3.

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.