THE
CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF BURLINGTON
BY-LAW
NUMBER 121-2006
A by-law to designate 313
Plains Road West, in the City of Burlington, in the Regional Municipality of
Halton, to be of cultural heritage value or interest pursuant to the provisions
of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, chapter O.18, as
amended.
WHEREAS Section 29 of the Ontario
Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, Chapter O. 18, as amended, authorizes the Council
of a municipality to enact by-laws
to designate real property, including all the buildings and structures thereon,
to be of cultural heritage value or interest; and
WHEREAS the
municipal heritage committee (Heritage Burlington) supports the designation of
the property described herein; and
WHEREAS a Notice of Intention to
Designate has been published in the Burlington Post on July 14, 2006, and
served, by registered mail, in accordance with the Act;
and
WHEREAS no Notice of Objection has been
served on the City Clerk of the City of Burlington;
NOW THEREFORE THE COUNCIL OF
THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF BURLINGTON HEREBY ENACTS AS FOLLOWS:
1. THAT the property at 313 Plains Road West (Albert Unsworth Farmhouse) being Part Lots 8 & 9 Plan PF623 as in 631825 being the whole of PIN 07124-0042, City of Burlington, Regional Municipality of Halton, more particularly described in Schedule “A”, is hereby designated as being of cultural heritage value or interest pursuant to Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.
3. The City Clerk shall cause a copy of this by-law to be served upon the owners of the property at 313 Plains Road West (Albert Unsworth Farmhouse) and upon the Ontario Heritage Trust and to cause notice of this by-law to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the City of Burlington as required by the Ontario Heritage Act.
4.
THAT this by-law shall take effect on the date of its
passing
ENACTED AND PASSED THIS 25th day of September 2006.
MAYOR:
__________________________________________
CITY CLERK:
______________________________________
SCHEDULE “A”
Description and Reasons for Designation:
313 Plains Road West
The Albert Unsworth Farmhouse is recommended for designation pursuant to Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act as a property of cultural heritage value or interest, as described in the following Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest.
Legal
Description:
Part Lots 8 & 9
Plan PF623 as in 631825 being the whole of PIN 07124-0042.
Description of
Property:
The subject property is located within the Aldershot community of Burlington on the north side of Plains Road West, east of Unsworth Avenue. The Albert Unsworth farmhouse is a one and a half storey, end-gabled farmhouse, clad in roughcast stucco.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or
Interest:
The subject property is known as the Albert Unsworth Farmhouse, built circa 1882. There is some evidence, however, to suggest that the building was erected prior to 1882, including; a sharp increase in property value between 1868 and 1882 (the year that Albert Unsworth purchased the property); the design of the interior staircase and railing; the door and window casings and some remaining door lock hardware. It is likely that this building pre-dates Confederation and as such, is likely to be the oldest remaining residential dwelling on Plains Road West (with the possible exception of the relocated Toll House on Unsworth Avenue).
The Unsworth Family has been pre-eminent within the Aldershot community for over 160 years. The family’s horticultural reputation is nationally recognized. As an early homestead of this important Aldershot family, the property merits designation based on its historical associative value.
The Albert Unsworth Farmhouse derives much of its contextual value from its deep setback from Plains Road: this setback speaks directly to the property’s agricultural roots. Contextual value is also derived from the property’s inclusion within the West Plains Neighbourhood Plan Area (original Mills Survey, 1918). The Plan Area supports one of the highest remaining concentrations of cultural heritage resources within the Aldershot community.
The Albert Unsworth Farmhouse is a fine example of a 1.5 storey vernacular farmhouse constructed on a stone foundation. The red brick building has been clad with at least two coats of roughcast stucco (white). The main roof is end-gabled, has a medium pitch and is clad in asphalt shingles. A single board soffit meets the exterior wall at a profiled moulding that continues under the verge of the front porch. A wide shed roof dormer is a later addition to the original roofline.
A single-storey gable-ended kitchen tail, to which subsequent additions have been made, has a different profiled moulding at the top of the exterior walls. Subsequent additions to the kitchen tail include a masonry anteroom at the east elevation and an expanded kitchen at the west elevation. With the exception of the rear wall, the original walls of the original kitchen tail have been removed.
The front porch (enclosed in the
20th century) runs the width of the house and is supported by four
masonry pedestals (now clad in stucco) at two heights with rock-faced caps. Decorative exterior elements, although
restrained, have been internalized within the enclosed
porch.
The house has a centre hall floor plan
with a boxed stairway along the back west wall of the original
building.
Character Defining Elements/Heritage
Attributes:
Important to the preservation of 313 Plains Road West are the following character-defining attributes:
-
Overall form of the building including
the original kitchen tail (north elevation) and the footprint and pedestals of
the front porch (south elevation);
-
All wood sash windows and wood storm
windows and with their associated wood frames, sashes, muntins, sills and
glazing;
-
All wood doors and original
hardware;
-
Sidelight and transom panels surrounding
the front door and decorative wood brackets;
-
Interior boxed staircase and
railing;
-
Interior
baseboards.