168 year old property receives heritage designation in Caledon

Written By JULIA LLOYD

The Town of Caledon recently sent out a notice of designation to local residents to spread the news that the municipality intends to designate 17070 Horseshoe Hill Road as being of cultural heritage value of interest.  

Michael Tjandrawidjaja, who moved to Caledon in 2014, currently owns the property. 

He originally bought the property to build a new home that could fit his whole family. The heritage house only has two bedrooms and Michael has seven family members. 

“Heritage is tangible evidence from our history,” said chair of Heritage Caledon Joanne Crease.  She has been with Heritage Caledon for eight years and is major history junkie, which is what pushed her towards the heritage committee. 

Michael made the decision to apply for his property to be a designated heritage house in 2018. He wanted to make the house a heritage site because that is the only way to build another house on the property — one that actually fits everyone. 

After buying the property, he started to really look at the house and did some research to find out whether or not the house had a strong heritage background in Caledon. 

The property is also known as Baxter Farmhouse. It was built back in 1851 by Scottish settlers Malcolm and Margret Baxter. Their original family and their descendants owned it from 1822 to 2011. 

The Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway right of way intersected the farm on the property, which is about 200 acres, in 1970s. The farm also has a past association with the first railway conducted through Caledon Township.  

“I get back the opportunity (to build) on the same piece of land by designating the property as a heritage house,” said Michael. 

The property was apart of the tragic historic train accident at Horseshoe Curve in 1907. George Baxter, who lived at the Baxter Farmhouse at the time, is said to have went and helped the victims of the crash that killed 7 people and injured 114.

“During that time it was recorded that all the houses around the accident turned into hospitals for the injured,” explained Crease.  

When Michael put in his request to have his property designate under section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, it was first brought to the attention to the Manger of Policy and Sustainability to prepare a report about whether the house would be designated or not. 

Heritage Caledon is made up of nine residents and one councillor. The area councillor for ward one, Lynn Kiernan is the councillor who requested the property be assessed for designation. 

Members of Heritage Caledon and the Town's Heritage Resource Officer conducted a site visit last August and it was agreed that designation of 17070 Horseshoe Hill Road was fitting. 

The reason for the houses designation was because of its rich history. The longevity of the single-family ownership combined with the quality of craftsmanship and exterior features, made it an important resource in Caledon's built Heritage.