Notice of intention to designate 2378 Sovereign Street

On September 24, 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:

Permenus and Charlotte Osborne house
2378 Sovereign Street
PCL 162-3, SEC M7; PT LT 162, PL M7, Part 2, 20R7267; OAKVILLE

Description of property

The property at 2378 Sovereign Street is located on the on the south side of Sovereign Street, east of Jones Street and west of Nelson Street in Bronte. The property contains a one-and-a-half storey frame house known as the Permenus and Charlotte Osborne House.

Statement of cultural heritage value or interest

Design and physical value

The Permenus and Charlotte Osborne House has design and physical value as an early 20th century Oakville vernacular frame workers’ cottage. The house may have been designed and built locally or could have been a kit house from a mail-order company. The house is one-and-a-half storeys with a hip roof and square footprint. The front elevation retains its historic design and layout with a central single front door flanked by two single windows. The house contains a mix of historic wood windows, including one-over-one wood sash windows, finished with simple wood trim. While some windows and the cladding has been modernized over time, the house retains its historic form and overall fenestration. 

Historical and associative value

The Permenus and Charlotte Osborne House has cultural heritage value because of its direct associations with the theme of late 19th and early 20th century residential development for working-class residents in the Bronte village downtown area. Together with a few nearby houses on Sovereign Street, the subject house is one of the few remaining early 20th century homes in the area and is a physical reminder of this working-class history. The property is also historically associated with its former owners including the Belyea, Osborne, and Dobson families, and the long-term owners the Bowman family, who contributed to the local Bronte community in a variety of ways.

Contextual value

The Permenus and Charlotte Osborne House has cultural heritage value because it is physically, functionally, visually and historically linked to its surroundings, an early 20th century working class neighbourhood characterized by modest vernacular homes. Historically, the streetscape of Sovereign Street was defined by smaller homes on large lots, with small front yard setbacks. Several of these historic modest homes remain, including 2378 Sovereign Street. Together, these remaining buildings are important remnants of Bronte’s late 19th and early 20th century residential development, which was defined by modest vernacular homes built for Bronte’s working class.

Description of heritage attributes

Key attributes of the Permenus and Charlotte Osborne House that exemplify its value as an early 20th century vernacular frame cottage, as they relate to the west, north and east elevations of the original one-and-a-half storey house, include:

• The square form and low massing of the structure with its low-sloped hip roof;
• The fenestration of the front elevation with a central single door flanked by two single windows; 
• The presence of one-over-one windows matching the style of the original windows; and
• The presence of horizontal siding.

Any objection to this designation must be filed no later than October 28, 2024. 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 September 27, 2024.