Caledon designates heritage property on McLaughlin Road

Town intends to designate two more properties soon

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Town of Caledon is taking steps to protect heritage properties.

On September 24, Caledon Council voted in favour of a bylaw to designate the property at 12461 McLaughlin Road as having cultural heritage value or interest under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Schedule A of the bylaw outlines the reasons for the designation. The property was first owned in 1831 by the Canada Company, an English land development company granted large amounts of land in southwestern Ontario.

In 1836, the property was sold to a man named Joshua Kelly. In the 1850s Kelly built a one-and-a-half-storey brick dwelling on the property; in 1873 he sold the property to a man named James Giffen.

Giffen lived in a wood house and farmed the property before constructing a new brick farmhouse in the 1890s.

In 1908, the property was sold to a man named George Hogg, and in 1922, it was sold to Hogg's son, John Ernest.

Ernest's family lived on and farmed the property until 1973 when they sold it to the Ben-Ted Construction Company. 

The farmhouse Giffen lived in is the house that's still on the property to this day. It is a two-storey, hip-roofed farmhouse clad in a red brick veneer. There's a one-storey brick wing on the north side of the house with a gable roof. 

“The building is distinguished by its southern entrance opening, which contains a centre door, segmental arched transom, side lights and box paneling, by its use of terra cotta in banding around the three elevations visible to the street and in the filigreed tiles in the second storey of the west elevation and by the narrow projecting brick hoods over almost all window and door openings,” reads Schedule A of the bylaw. “Other notable features on the exterior of this structure include almost all openings having segmental arches with radiating brick voussoirs, the two over two original window sashes, the projecting eaves and the coursed, squared rubble stone foundation with a rock faced finish. The building displays a high degree of heritage integrity on the exterior, retaining most of its original features. Contextually, the Giffen Farmhouse is historically, physically and visually linked to its setting on the east side of McLaughlin Road where it is a visual reminder of the agricultural origins of the area.”

The Town of Caledon is intending to designate another property as having cultural heritage value or interest soon: 1626 Charleston Sideroad. 

The building there was built in 1874 and is best known as the Cataract Schoolhouse. It was used as a rural schoolhouse for almost 89 years (1874-1963). The building is described as a cornerstone of primary education for students in the Cataract area; it also served as a community social hub.

“Visible from the road, the former rural schoolhouse is in proximity to several surviving 19th century farmsteads and the community of Cataract. The property has additional contextual value in being physically, visually and historically linked to its surroundings,” reads a Town of Caledon public notice. 

Another property the Town intends to designate soon is 12304 Heart Lake Road. It's a 19th-century stone farmhouse with an associated bank barn. The property has been used as a farm for at least 130 years and is associated with the agricultural development of the area.