Notice of intention to designate

160 Queen Street West

Take notice that Toronto City Council intends to designate the lands and buildings known municipally as 160 Queen Street West under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Reasons for Designation

Description
The property at 160 Queen Street West is worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value, and meets the criteria prescribed for municipal designation by the Province of Ontario under the three categories of design, associative and contextual value. The 2½-storey house form building was completed in 1822 in the Town of York and moved to its present location near the northwest corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue in 1972. The property was included on the inaugural City of Toronto Inventory of Heritage Properties in June 1973. Campbell House is operated by the Advocates' Society as a historic house museum and special events venue.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Campbell House is valued because it is the only surviving residential building from the Town of York. It is a rare surviving example of an early 19th century building in Toronto designed in the Georgian style. The style is epitomized in Campbell House's elegant proportions, symmetrical south façade, and pedimented gable with an oval window. It is also one of the oldest remaining house form buildings in Toronto.

Campbell House is associated with a person of significance in the early history of the city and the province. The residence was originally commissioned for and occupied by Sir William Campbell (1758-1834), who was appointed the Chief Justice for the Province of Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1825. A Scottish-born soldier who became a lawyer and politician in Nova Scotia, Campbell moved to Upper Canada (Ontario) in 1811 when he was offered a judgeship. At the time of his appointment as Chief Justice, Campbell was a leading member of the community who served as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Governor of the Bank of Upper Canada, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Toronto's first hospital. Campbell is distinguished as first Canadian judge to receive a knighthood in 1829.

Campbell House is also associated with the beginnings of the historic preservation movement in Toronto. The house was originally built on Duke Street (now Adelaide Street East) in the Town of York. Its use as a residence ended after 1900 when the area changed to an industrial district. The building was threatened with demolition in the 1960s, prior to the passage of the Ontario Heritage Act. The Advocates' Society, an association of courtroom lawyers practising in Ontario, formed the Sir William Campbell Foundation to save the building. The Foundation entered into an agreement with the City of Toronto and the Canada Life Insurance Company to move Campbell House to the Company's land near the corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue. In 1972, the building was lifted and moved along city streets, an event that was widely covered by the media. Its restoration was typical of the period in the 1970s with many of the documented original architectural features restored, missing elements replicated according to archival research and pre-move documentation, and others recreated based on the study of other intact Georgian buildings in Ontario. Of particular significance is the restored basement kitchen, with the brick detailing and floor.

With its evocative Georgian design, Campbell House is a landmark on Queen Street West. In its appearance, vintage and associations with the legal profession, it complements Osgoode Hall, the early 19th century landmark on the opposite (northeast) corner of Queen Street West and University Avenue, which is designated under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Heritage Attributes
The heritage attributes of Campbell House associated with its stated cultural heritage value are:

Exterior attributes

• The scale, form and massing
• The materials with brick cladding and brick and wood trim
• The 2½-storey rectangular plan
• The gable roof with truncated ends (east and west), extended eaves, brick end chimneys and, on the south slope, an enclosed pediment with an oval window
• On the principal (south) façade, the symmetrical arrangement of the frontispiece, main entrance and fenestration
• The main (south) entry, with double paneled wood doors, a multi-paned fanlight, three-quarter-length sidelights, and the single-storey half-round portico with columns and an entablature
• The tall flat-headed window openings containing multi-paned nine-over-nine sash windows and displaying replicated louvered wood shutters
• On the side elevations (east and west), the continuation of the symmetrically-placed flat-headed window openings with sash windows, including quarter-round windows in the attic level

Interior attributes

• The centre hall plan with the basement kitchen, the southwest and southeast rooms on the first floor, and the southwest and east rooms on the second floor
• On the interior, the tall ceiling heights, the plaster ceilings with mouldings and rosettes, the paneled wood doors and surrounds, the wood window surrounds and paneled reveals, the wood baseboards and chair rails, the brick fireplaces with wood mantels and the original pine floors
• In the first-floor hall, the restored semi-circular wood staircase and the fanlight above the north door
• In the first-floor southwest room, the restored niches flanking the fireplace
• In the kitchen, the original brick fireplace, hearth, bake oven, and floor

Notice of an objection to the proposed designation may be served on the City Clerk, Attention: Rosalind Dyers, Administrator, Toronto and East York Community Council, Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, 2nd floor, Toronto, ON M5H 2N2, within thirty days of the 26th day of October, 2009, which is November 24, 2009. The notice must set out the reason(s) for the objection, and all relevant facts.

Dated at Toronto this 26th day of October, 2009.

Ulli S. Watkiss
City Clerk