Notice of intention to designate 2460 Old Bronte Road

On December 9, 2024, 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:

Smith House
2460 Old Bronte Road
Part lot 31 Concession 1 TRAF SDS Parts 4, 5, 14,15, 21, 22 AND 23, Plan 20R22672; Oakville

Description of property

The property at 2460 Old Bronte Road is located on the west side of Old Bronte Road, south of Dundas Street West in the former village of Palermo. The property contains a two-and-a-half storey house with one-storey rear wing known as the Smith House.

Statement of cultural heritage value or interest

Design and physical value

The Smith House has design and physical value as an evolved 19th century village house with influences from the Gothic Revival and Italianate styles. The main portion of the house is believed to have been built in the 1850s and then expanded and renovated in the 1870s. The Gothic Revival style is evident in the structure’s steep roof, prominent centre gable, decorative bargeboard, and round and lancet windows in the gables. The front portico, also likely built during the 1870s renovations, was designed in the Italianate style. The flat roof with projecting eaves, heavily bracketed cornice, and square and rectangular windows with rounded edges are all indicative of the style. The original wood windows on the portico are both tinted and etched with late 19th century patterns, adding decorative detail and privacy. 

The Smith House also has design and physical value for the circa 1813 timber-frame structure located to the rear of the building, which would have been one of the earliest structures in Palermo. The original framing features hand-sawn and rough-sawn wood, post and beam notching, wooden pins, mortise and tenon joints, and wide ceiling and roof boards. The structure is a rare and early example of its kind in Oakville.

Historical and associative value

The Smith House is associated with the theme of 19th century village life in Palermo and with the Smith families, early settlers in Trafalgar Township. The property has direct associations with the historic village of Palermo, the oldest European settlement in present-day Oakville. Palermo was a significant stop along Dundas Street, the main route between Toronto and Hamilton, and the larger rural community depended on the village for its stagecoach stop, post office, inn, stores, schools, and churches. The Smith family owned the property for almost 90 years, building the original structure and expanding it throughout the 19th century. The property was granted by the Crown to Benjamin Smith, who likely built the original one-storey structure. It was later owned by his son-in-law Caleb Smith from 1860-1902, when the Gothic Revival and Italianate portions were built. 

Contextual  value

The Smith House is physically, visually, and historically linked to its surroundings, the historic village of Palermo that has evolved over two centuries. With a construction date starting in the first two decades of the 1800s, the Smith House is one of the earliest remaining residential dwellings in the village. The house is important in defining the area as a former historic rural village. The original circa 1813 portion provides a significant link to the village’s early history of European settlement that took place along early routes like Dundas Street and Bronte Road. The later front addition and Gothic Revival and Italianate style renovations help tell the story of the evolution of the village from a sparse, early 19th century settlement to a busy and thriving village in the later 19th century and early 20th century.

Description of heritage attributes

Key attributes of the property at 2460 Old Bronte Road that exemplify its cultural heritage value as a 19th century village house with Gothic Revival and Italianate style influences associated with the former village of Palermo, include:

• The massing and form of the two-and-a-half storey house with its steep side gable roof with front gable and its flat-roofed one-storey front portico;
• Horizontal wood siding;
• Decorative wood bargeboard in the side and front gables;
• The fenestration of the windows;
• The presence of two-over-two sash windows on the first and second storeys;
• The presence of a one-over-one rounded sash window in the front gable;
• Wood lancet windows in the third storey gables;
• Wood window trim, including pediments;
• Heavily bracketed wood cornice on portico;
• Wood transom windows with acid-etched red tinted glass on portico;
• One-over-one wood windows with acid-etched patterns on portico;
• Wood paneled door with acid-etched glass on portico; and
• The orientation of the house facing east towards Old Bronte Road.

Key attributes of the property at 2460 Old Bronte Road that exemplify its cultural heritage value as an early timber frame structure associated with the former village of Palermo include:

• The timber frame structure with wall and roof framing made of hand-sawn and rough-sawn wood, post and beam notching, wooden pins, mortise and tenon joints, ceiling boards, and roof boards; and
• The location of the structure attached to the rear of the two-and-a-half storey house. 

Any objection to this designation must be filed no later than January 15, 2025.  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 December 16, 2024.