Notice of Intention to Amend Designation By-law 493 Dundas Street East, Flamborough

The City of Hamilton intends to amend By-law 86-121, being a By-law designating 493 Dundas Street East, Flamborough, under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, as being a property of cultural heritage value.

Why?

Built circa 1857, the Pearson House property has design value as a fine example of a late Georgian brick residence in a landscaped setting. The Pearson House has associative value for its connections with James Forbes; the Forbes family owned the property from 1857 to 1913 and is associated with the Forbes-Fosher Stove Foundry Company in Hamilton. The property also has associative value for its connections with the Pearson Family. The Pearson family operated the farm as the Avonsyde Dairy. The dairy produced milk that was delivered in glass bottles, first to Waterdown and later to Aldershot and Burlington.

The Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest, Description of Heritage Attributes and supporting cultural heritage assessment can also be viewed in person during regular business hours at:

Office of the City Clerk
71 Main Street West, 1st Floor
Hamilton, Ontario, L8P 4Y5

Written Notice of Objection

Any person may, within 30 days after the date of the publication of the Notice, serve written notice of their objections to the proposed designation, together with a statement for the objection and relevant facts.

Dated at Hamilton, this 28th day of April, 2017.

R. Caterini
City Clerk
Hamilton, Ontario

Contact
Jeremy Parsons, Cultural Heritage Planner II
Phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 1214
Email: [email protected]

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

Description of Property

The Pearson House or ‘Avonsyde’ is a two-storey brick residence, located on the north side of Dundas Street East, near the village of Waterdown in Flamborough.

Cultural Heritage Value

The Pearson House property has design value as a fine example of a late Georgian brick residence in a landscaped setting. The large two-storey brick house with a rear kitchen wing dates to circa 1857. Typical of the style, the formal front (south) façade is organized into three symmetrical and balanced bays with a central entrance. The result is a finely balanced street face that is complemented by fine and simply detailed building elements.

The Pearson House has associative value for its connections with James Forbes; the Forbes family owned the property from 1857 to 1913. James Forbes arrived from Scotland around 1830 and founded the Forbes-Fosher Stove Foundry Company in Hamilton. He sold the business in 1856 and the family relocated to this rural property. The Forbes family was the first to farm the land and are responsible for the construction of the house and the former agricultural buildings.

The property also has associative value for its connections with the Pearson Family. The Pearson family operated the farm as the Avonsyde Dairy. The dairy produced milk that was delivered in glass bottles, first to Waterdown and later to Aldershot and Burlington. The milk delivery business was sold to Sunnybrook Dairy in 1940 though the Pearson family continued to supply milk. The dairy closed in 1973 and the Pearson family sold the property in 1988.

Description of Heritage Attributes

• The setting of the residence overlooking Dundas Street East in a landscaped setting of mature trees.
• Landscape features that reflect the former farm uses and enhance the setting of the house and frame key views including:
  • The path of the driveway to the west of the house
  • The raised grassed area in the front yard that enhances the prominence of the house
  • The tree canopy which lines Dundas Street East and the west side of the driveway, and surrounds the house
• The two-storey building massing with a hipped roof profile on the main residence and rear kitchen wing as well as the later single-storey shed roof kitchen wing addition.
• The exterior red brick walls with toothed limestone quoins on the front (south) façade.
• The front entrance opening with a pedimented and tooled stone lintel.
• The front entrance composed of a four-panel wood door flanked by wood columns, inset sidelights (3 lights over a wood panel) and an inset six-light transom.
• The regular, classically proportioned window openings with segmented stone lintels, stone sills and six-over-six wood windows.
• The central hall organization of the main residence: an interior vestibule leading to a long hallway with stair and the two front rooms. The central hallway accesses all rooms on the ground floor as well as the rear kitchen wing.
• Additional interior features are limited to: the stair with the original walnut handrail, turned newel post and balusters; the deep baseboards and wide pine floor boards.
• Key views including:
  • From the street at the base of the driveway to the house;
  • From the north-west corner of the property to the house;
  • From the front rooms on the ground and second floors of the main house across the garden to Dundas Street East; and,
  • The series of framed views of the property heading north along the driveway (with the house to the east and the landscaped lands to the west).