Background

The owner of the subject property has formally requested that his house be designated as a Heritage Building. The request was forwarded to the Township’s Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee, who reviewed the matter at its February 3rd meeting. It was the opinion of the Committee members that the property was worthy of designation and they passed a Resolution recommending to Council that it proceed with the designation process. The Committee also requested that the staff advisor prepare a report outlining the reasons for designating the property (see Statement of Reason for Designation).

The proposed designation as approved by LACAC and as recommended by staff would protect the exterior on the building only, and in particular those architectural elements listed in the Statement of Reason for Designation.

Statement of Reason for Designation

The property at 8 Mary Street in the former Town of Kemptville is deemed to be of architectural and historical significance.

In 1857, Kemptville was formally incorporated as a village. On April 27th 1863 a surveyed plan of the new village (Plan 11), prepared by the Provincial Land Surveyor John Burchill, was deposited at the County Registry Office. This Plan formed the basis of the layout of streets and lots in the new Town of Kemptville.

Prior to that time, these particular lands were owned successively by Captain Peter Drummond (1802 -1819), John Boyce (1819), Thomas McCarger (1819 -1826), Lynn (Lyman ?) Clothier and Asa Clothier (1826 -1839), Lyman Clothier (1840 -1850) and Gordon Service (1850 - 1872). It was probably during the ownership of Gordon Service, after whom this Town Lot was named, that the present dwelling was constructed, during the latter part of the nineteenth century. When the property was conveyed by the Will of Armenia Beach to Mina C. Barnhard on July 26th 1906, the building is noted as follows;

“.... I GIVE, DEVISE AND BEQUEATH unto my daughter Mina C. Barnhard, wife of Wesly Roy Bardhard of the City of Ottawa in the County of Carleton, Merchants Clerk, the Easterly One-Half of that portion of said Block of land now owned by me, and upon which is erected a Frame Dwelling, and which is now rented and occupied by one Mrs. Mills.”

The 1908 Fire Insurance Map of the Town also shows the building in its present configuration, and apparently without the front and side porch. This building is the mirror image of the house to the west (6 Mary Street), and local tradition has it that the two dwellings were built for two sisters, although this is probably based on the information in the Will of Armenia Beach.

This building is a particularly well-preserved example from that era of Kemptville’s development, which saw it expand from a small mill village to a more commercially diversified town. It is historically important as one of the few remaining examples of a working class dwelling of that time, whose details have not been obscured by modern renovations. Architecturally, it is a one and one-half storey frame dwelling, which is L-shaped in plan. This is a transition from the typical style of early nineteenth century residences, which were smaller proportioned and rectangular in plan.

The house is clad in its original beveled clapboard and is balloon-frame type construction. This was also an evolution in the style of construction from the earlier post-and-beam or log buildings. The clapboard cladding displays the original typical details such as flat corner boards and flat window and door surrounds. The eave details consist of flat fascia and soffit boards without any of the dentil trim, brackets, vergeboards, etc that were characteristic of more refined dwellings of the time. The front door is off-set in accordance with an interior side-hall plan, which again shows the evolution from the centre-hall plans of earlier periods. The front door is a reproduction that is based on side door, which is original.

The original two-over-two sash windows show the evolution of construction materials which saw the development of larger size glass panes during this time. The original milled cedar shingle roof is still intact under the existing sheet steel roofing. This designation covers only the exterior north and west facades and does not include the chimney, steel roof cladding or porch, which are later additions.