The Downtown Task Force of the ACO embarks on

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1 1 Architectural Conservancy of Ontario Port Hope Branch Newsletter September 2013 President's Report The theme of this year s Heritage Conference, which was held this past June in Midland, was Rediscover the Past to Enhance the Future. One of the highlights for me was the story of the SS Keewatin. The Keewatin is an Edwardian passenger steamship, 350 feet long and older than the Titanic. She used to sail the Great Lakes between Port McNicholl and Port Arthur. In the 1960s, the Keewatin was going to be sold for scrap but an American bought the ship and took her to Michigan. Recently, through a Foundation by the name of Friends of the Keewatin, it was brought home to Port Mc- Nicholl. The ship is now an excellent museum showing life on board through the decades of the 20th Century, and its presence in the harbour is helping to revitalize the town. It is a fine example of rediscovering the past to enhance the future and well worth a visit. At the conference we were also fortunate to hear David Crombie (former Mayor of Toronto) speak. He is a dynamic and passionate speaker. He emphasized the important relationship between natural heritage and the waterfront, highlighting the 25th Anniversary of the Toronto Waterfront. He even mentioned the Ganaraska and Float your Fanny down the Ganny! His words made me reflect on the work which has been accomplished for the preservation of heritage in Port Hope, and the work we still have to do. As we look back over the first 50 years of ACO Port Hope, we can be proud of the buildings we have helped to save. Now we look forward to the next 50 years and the challenges of continuing to preserve our heritage. In September, we begin the next project of our Down Town Task Force. The Orange Hall on John Street will have its front façade restored. ACO Port Hope is working together with the town and the building owners to help preserve this important Port Hope landmark. And there are other projects in the works for next spring. As I sat down to write this article, I heard the sad news that Peter Stokes had died. Peter was a champion for heritage and Port Hope owes him a great debt of gratitude. We will be recognizing his life-time work in a future issue. Our ACO Port Hope calendar continues to be busy! In July we were treated to a spectacular, sell-out Garden Tour with beautiful and diverse gardens around Canton. Many thanks to the Committee headed by Mary Shaw-Rimmington, for organizing this outstanding event. Our newly introduced Evenings with Friends continue to be well attended. The next one is September 7th, a Railway Walking Tour with Ted Rafuse, and another on October 17th features Tom Cruickshank talking about Old Ontario Houses. Please make sure you have the House Tour date of October 5th in your calendars. Tickets are already on sale. The Barbecue will have taken place by the time you read this but meantime I am eagerly looking forward to it and the pleasure of meeting our Members at the Johnsons' wonderful home on the 8th August. ACO Port Hope continues to be a strong organization, and all because of the membership. Many thanks to each of you for being a member and thereby helping to preserve the heritage of our wonderful town. Respectfully submitted, Trish Doney Downtown Task Force The Orange Hall The Downtown Task Force of the ACO embarks on its second project this fall, to assist the owners of 50 John Street in restoring the front façade which involves cleaning and repairing the brick and restoring the windows. The building many know as the Orange Hall is wonderfully eccentric. The unique design was deliberate since it was originally built as the first YMCA in Port Hope in There was a large meeting hall in the rear for Christian lectures which sometimes served as a gymnasium, but its prime function was as a Christian institution, hence its design is distinct from its commercial neighbors. It has seen many owners, among them the Salvation Army and the Loyal Order of Orange, and is now an artist s studio and gallery. We look forward to seeing this important Port Hope landmark restored to reveal its charmingly eccentric design elements. Phil Carter Contents: Downtown Task Force: The Orange Hall th Annual House Tour...3 Culture, Heritage, Landscape Wesleyville Village Has It All...4 Evenings Different Courses for Iron Horses : A Railway Walking Tour with Ted Rafuse...6 Evenings Tom Cruickshank on "Old Ontario Houses"...7 Notice about Peter John Stokes...7 ACO and Other Events...8

2 2 ACO Matters September 2013 ACO Executive 2013 Executive Committee Trish Doney... President Charles Wickett... Vice President Susan Carmichael... Secretary Dennis Hogarth... Treasurer Directors Patsy Beeson Peggy Bennett Judith Copeland Tom Cruickshank Phil Goldsmith Sebastian Hanna Peter Kedwell Jo Anne Mathew Committee Chairs Joan Tooke... Auction Patsy Beeson... Bus Tour & Newsletter Tom Cruickshank... Downtown Task Force Mary Shaw-Rimmington... Garden Tour Charles Wickett... Governance & House Tour Blaise Gaetz... House Tour Jo Anne Mathew... Media Peggy Bennett... Membership Phil Goldsmith... Pier Group Liaison Tom Cruickshank... Projects & Auction Ed Pamenter... Property & HPH Rep. Judith Copeland... Social Sebastian Hanna... Website The ACO was incorporated in 1933 for the preservation of the best examples of architecture in the province and for the preservation of its places of natural beauty. MADAWASKA QUARTET Sunday November 17, 2013, 3:00 PM Cameco Capitol Arts Centre, Port Hope TSO BRASS ENSEMBLE Saturday December 14, 2013, 7:30 PM Port Hope United Church TAFELMUSIK BAROQUE ORCHESTRA Friday February 7, 2014, 7:30 PM Port Hope United Church STARS OF TOMORROW, with Iain Scott Saturday March 29, 2014, 3:00 PM St. Peter s Anglican Church, Cobourg NEW ORFORD STRING QUARTET Sunday March 30, 2014, 3:00 PM Port Hope United Church TERESA WALTERS, piano Sunday May 18, 2014, 3:00 PM Cameco Capitol Arts Centre, Port Hope BACH TO THE FUTURE, jazz quartet Saturday May 31, 2014, 7:30 PM Port Hope United Church w w w. p o r t h o p e f r i e n d s o f m u s i c. c a

3 3 The 48th Annual Port Hope House Tour will feature ten wonderful properties: cottages; mansions; modern condominiums in a heritage building, as well as the Port Hope United Church. If you choose, you can design your own walking tour and enjoy what will be a lovely autumn day. All of the properties are located west of the river and are on, or very close to, the Walton-Ridout-Lakeshore Road corridor. The late Victorian frame home located at 61 Bramley Street North was built in stages with the earliest dating to Subsequent additions include a wing to the south, a verandah, and a tower, and the whole house has been very recently restored. At 25 Baldwin Street you will find an Ontario cottage with a regency flair that has been opened up inside to create a modern open plan with new kitchen suitable to today s lifestyle. The two condominium units (#203 and #403) located in The Pines at 72 Pine Street North (formerly a school), are each unique and demonstrate how heritage buildings which have outlived their original functions can be transformed to new uses while preserving the architectural integrity of the original structure. Another late Victorian home this time of brick and in the Italianate style is located at 2 Hagerman Street, off Walton. The interior detailing of this house is original and includes 8 foot high paneled doors and a unique curved stair. Just a bit further west at 233 Walton Street you will find another regency cottage. This home is notable for its Greek Portico entrance vestibule flanked by elegant French casement windows. The symmetry continues 48th Annual House Tour Saturday, October 5th, 10am 4pm in the interior with a wide centre hall flanked by principal rooms. The current owners have taken full advantage of the features of this house. Penryn Homestead at 82 Victoria Street South, built in the early 1800s and with extensive modifications and additions in 1890, exhibits features of the popular Neo Classical style. It contains a ball room with some unusual features made in compliance with the wishes of the owner, Commander Williams. There are several other interesting buildings on the property including a guesthouse which has recently been updated to provide a studio for the current owners. 345 Lakeshore Road is where you will find Dunain, built in The style of the original home is described as Loyalist Georgian and it has received later additions and embellishments, some in the Neo-Classical style. The conservatory to the south and much of the house and gardens have benefited from the extremely ambitious restorations of the current owners. Across the road at 350 Lakeshore Road you will find the Brand Farmhouse, also built in This home is an example of a Victorian Gothic Revival Ontario Farmhouse but with grander proportions indicative of the Renaissance Revival or Picturesque style. Renovations at the rear of the house demonstrate how modern improvements can complement the original architecture. Port Hope United Church is located at 34 South Street and was built in This stately church, the largest in Port Hope, is a good example of the ecclesiastical architecture of the time and is anchored by two towers, one 186' high and the other 100' high. Among its many interesting features are three stained glass windows in the central bay, best viewed from inside the Church. So we have a terrific slate of properties, and remember the funds raised from the Tour support the work of the ACO in Port Hope. Tickets ($25) are available at select area merchants, by mail order, or by PayPal. Full particulars may be found on the ACO Port Hope website

4 4 ACO Matters September 2013 By Sue Stickley One of Port Hope s early rural settlements is being revitalized by the Friends of Wesleyville Village (FOWV), winners of the 2012 Architectural Conservancy of Ontario A.K. ACO President Susan Ratcliffe, Kathryn Sculthorpe Award McHolm, Robert Sculthorpe & Sue Stickley for Advocacy. The award recognized the Friends for their innovative approach to working with Wesleyville's owners, and their success in rallying the community. At the awards dinner, Kathryn McHolm, FOWV Chair, said, The "Friends" and the community thank you for this heritage advocacy award, but we especially want to thank A.K. Sculthorpe for her inspiration. In the late 1960s A.K. convinced Ontario Hydro to set aside the Redlea beach area of their generating station property for natural heritage regeneration. Then she sought and received Hydro funding to fix the Church roof and continued to advocate for the environment and the preservation of the Church and remaining village buildings. Designation of the Church by our Hope Township LACAC was a watershed and led to the Wesleyville Study commissioned by LACAC with financial support from ACO Port Hope and OPG. The study led to the formation of the Friends. In all our work over the past three years A.K. has been with us sitting on our shoulders as a friend, mentor and cheerleader. The 2004 Wesleyville Village Study determined that what remained of the Village its church, a schoolhouse, Culture Heritage Landscape Wesleyville Village Has It All two architecturally significant houses, and two barns was indeed a Cultural Landscape and should be preserved for posterity. It concluded that Wesleyville is not a disjointed collection of abandoned buildings and overgrown vegetation, but layered with archeological, built and natural significance. As a cultural landscape, its core heritage character is as a sanctuary of historic structures and cultural aspirations, amidst a regenerating natural landscape. To support revitalization of this abandoned community, six heritage advocates formed the Friends of Wesleyville Village in The Friends, now a charitable organization with over 150 members, began its work in 2010 on the decaying church. Lengthy discussions with the Hope Charge of the United Church resulted in a 20-year lease including explicit goals for the first five years. Those goals have now been accomplished and the Friends are planning to install accessibility features and a washroom. The group continues to work with OPG-owner of the rest of the village so that the rest of Wesleyville can be preserved and revitalized. Past of the Lively Village Take a tour west along Lakeshore Road. Once you reach the intersection with Wesleyville Road there are no more buildings until you come upon downtown Wesleyville. All but the Church and the cemetery are now Ontario Power Generation (OPG) property, acquired in the late 1960s with the aim of constructing several generating stations on the shore of Lake Ontario. Construction of the oil-fired Wesleyville Generating Station was halted in 1978 and the stack and buildings remain repurposed or unused. Trees planted by OPG now cover former Lakeshore Road homesteads and cropland, recreating the landscape from when the early white settlers traveled the winding road between burgeoning lake side communities. Soldiers headed for Niagara in must have seen a similar roadside landscape, now protected by the Municipality of Port Hope as a Designated Natural Area. KIRKPATRICK'S SINCE 1881 Leather Shop Specialists in Restoration, Repair and Reproduction of Heritage Leather Goods and Manufacture of Quality Leather Products FACTORY AND SHOWROOM 15 Cavan Street, Port Hope, ON L1A 3B

5 5 (Continued from previous page) Another kilometer west of the village, there are one or two heritage houses and a number of dwellings built in the 1960s and '70s. Once all this area was considered to be part of the bustling hamlet of Wesleyville. In fact, one Port Hope resident in her late 90s recalls walking from home on the boundary road near the railway tracks to Wesleyville school and church six days a week. That s a round trip of about 15 km. By the 1860s Wesleyville had a school, a Methodist Church, a tavern, a blacksmith shop, a machine shop, a cobbler and a carpenter. The foundation of a tavern, operated by Tom Clark from , can be found on Lot 30 Concession One. The story is that the tavern closed when Mr. Clark 'got religion' and dumped his liquor in the Tony Trevor explores Clark road. Tavern foundation In 1860, it was necessary to build a new church, as the old wooden frame one had deteriorated, so John Barrowclough, one of the area's founders, provided the land from the west side of his property. Named "Wesley Church", the hamlet continued to grow around the church as Wesleyville. The early school on the current site burned in 1899 and was replaced that year by the brick SS#2. It was closed in 1964 and is now owned by OPG. The post office was operated from 1875 until 1911 in the Barrowclough House, the earliest of the two houses still standing in the hamlet. In 1982 Len Oughtred, the last post master and owner of the Y House", hinted at the reason for the 1944 closure. He told researchers for the Port Hope ACO Architectural and Historical Inventory, that in return for having his house open to the public seven days a week he received an annual salary of $100! The "Y House" Wesleyville School 1904 Purchase of homes, farms and buildings by Ontario Hydro in the late 1960s exaggerated the decline of the Wesleyville community, but the closure of schools and churches and the changing rural economy were affecting most hamlets throughout Hope Township. The opportunity now exists to preserve the cultural aspirations, stories and the way of life of people with names like Barrowclough, Austin, Reeve and Nichols buried in the peaceful Wesleyville cemetery. The atmosphere in Wesleyville is delightful. Hundreds of people are enjoying FOWV events and other group activities in this special place. In fact, there s a booking for a 50th wedding anniversary in July 2015 by a local couple married in the Church in Long-term plans for the Village include educational, conference and hostel ideas and rental facilities for weddings and community events. Together with OPG, local officials and groups we are bringing the Village back to life. Willowae, 7132 Campbell Road, Campbellcroft, ON L0A 1B0 Ph: Cell: moya@moyamcphaildesign.com

6 6 ACO Matters September 2013 Evenings with the ACO & Friends An 'Evening' in the Afternoon Saturday, September 7th at 1:30pm Port Hope Public Library Different Courses for Iron Horses E A Railway Walking Tour with Ted Rafuse ver heard of the Grand Trunk, the Canadian Northern, the Lindsay & Beaverton, or the Port Hope & Peterborough? All were local railways, transporting passengers and freight north, west and east, which brought boom times and handsome homes to Port Hope in the 19th Century. Come and learn about them, and much more besides, on September 7th when Ted Rafuse, railway history enthusiast, leads a Walking Tour on our local railway lore. Starting at Port Hope Public Library the walk, at a gentle pace, will include our 1856 Railway Station with its authentic waiting room, and ends back at the Library for tea, cucumber sandwiches and Railroad Cake (from an 1850s recipe). Numbers limited. $15.00 members, $18.00 non-members, including Refreshments. Make cheque to ACO Port Hope Railways, and mail/deliver to 8 King St., Port Hope L1A 2R4. Include name and or tel. no. When a teacher at CDCI East, Ted co-developed a course in local history including its railway past. He now writes for various railway historical journals and has self-published three books on the subject. He is currently working with the Cobourg Museum Foundation on the railway promotion at their site. He has been one of the principal organizers of the Convention of the Canadian Assoc. of Railway Modellers this August.

7 7 Tom Cruickshank on Old Ontario Houses Thursday, October 17th, 2013 at 7pm P.H. Public Library O ur very own Tom Cruickshank will present the next in our continuing series of Evenings. His subject will be Old Ontario Houses, and his talk will be modeled after his best-selling coffee-table book of the same name. The book (with photography by the renowned John de Visser) was designed to highlight some of the province s most interesting residences, many of which are not well known outside their local neighbourhoods. As his presentation criss-crosses the entire province, Tom promises to lend his insights into architectural style, regional variations and the state of preservation. He ll even have signed copies of the book on hand at the unheard-of price of $25. Admission $15, $18 non-members, includes wine and refreshments. To book, see information under "Railway Walk", but make out cheque to "ACO Port Hope Old Ontario Houses". Patrick + Dee McGee Sales Representatives We Specialize in Unique Properties Chestnut Park Real Estate Limited, Brokerage mail@mcgees.ca Peter John Stokes We much regret to announce the death of Peter John Stokes in Port Hope on July 30th. Peter was distinguished in the field of restoration architecture and wrote and collaborated on numerous books on the subject. We shall recognize Peter and the substantial debt owed him by Port Hope more fully in our next issue. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS If you have questions or comments, we would like to receive them and will pass them on to be answered by the appropriate member of the board. If the subject is of general interest, we shall publish the question and answer.

8 8 ACO Matters September 2013 Major Upcoming Events Evening Railway Walk with Ted Rafuse September 7th, 1:30, Library (see page 6) Port Hope Fair ACO Booth September 13th, 14th, 15th 48th Port Hope House Tour Saturday, 5th October (see pages 1&3) Evening Tom Cruickshank on Old Ontario Houses October 17, 7pm, Library (see page 7) Friends of Wesleyville Village 2082 Lakeshore Road, Port Hope Contact: Kathryn McHolm Wesleyville Harvest Festival & Heritage Craft Sale Sunday, September 29th, 10-4pm Ghostly Visit Saturday, October 26th, 6-8pm An Architectural Discovery Day, 6th Sept., starting 2pm With a quiz about houses on College Street, a visit to two houses, and dinner at the Woodlawn with guest speaker, Rob Mikel. $ 75 each for full day of fun. Tickets available beginning of September. Cobourg: King Street Books, 32 King St. W., Port Hope: G. Facey, 57 Walton St., Or call Cobourg ACO at Architectural Conservancy of Ontario Port Hope Branch Membership Application Form Please enroll me as a member of the Port Hope Branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario. I have indicated below my/our applicable membership category. Name(s): Address: Telephone: Individual Member: $35 Household Membership: $40 Student: $12 Total Enclosed: House Tour Volunteer Receiving ACO Matters by Garden Tour Volunteer Web Site Design & Maintenance Publicity / Public Relations Design & Mounting Displays / Outreach Antiques & Artifacts Volunteer Please fill out this form and mail it with your cheque to: ACO Port Hope Branch PO Box 563, Port Hope, Ont. L1A 3Z4 etextimage S E R V I C E S Graphic & Web Design Services Patricia McCaw patricia@etextimage.com