Notice of intention to designate

7 Austin Terrace (John B. Maclean House)

Take notice that Toronto City Council intends to designate the lands and buildings known municipally as 7 Austin Terrace under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Reasons for Designation

Description
The property at 7 Austin Terrace is worthy of designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value, and meets the criteria for municipal designation prescribed by the Province of Ontario under the categories of associative and contextual value. Located on the south side of Austin Terrace near the foot of Lyndhurst Avenue, the John B. Maclean House (1910) is a 1½-storey house form building.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
The house form building at 7 Austin Terrace is historically associated with publisher John Bayne Maclean (1862-1950), a person of significance to the community, who occupied the building from its construction in 1910 until his death 40 years later. After working as a newspaper reporter and editor, in 1889 Maclean established a publishing company for trade journals and popular magazines that became the largest enterprise of its kind in the British Commonwealth. After moving to Austin Terrace, Maclean renamed an existing magazine Maclean's, which has been published continuously for over a century and remains the most recognized legacy of his career.

The John B. Maclean House is also connected to the important Canadian architect, John M. Lyle, who prepared the plans for the dwelling. After training at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and with prominent New York City architectural firms, Lyle established a solo practice in Toronto in 1905 where he quickly rose to prominence with his designs for the Royal Alexandra Theatre (1907) and Toronto's Union Station (designed in 1911-13 in association with Ross and Macdonald and Hugh G. Jones), as well as work with the Civic Improvement Commission (1911). Lyle prepared the plans for the 1910 section of the building at 7 Austin Terrace as the gatehouse or lodge for a suburban estate that Maclean did not complete (instead expanding the original building with a service wing and southeast addition by Mathers and Haldenby in 1934). The John B. Maclean House is significant for its association with the first phase of Lyle's career in Toronto when he accepted residential commissions from many prominent businessmen.

From a design perspective, the John B. Maclean House (1910) is a unique expression of Georgian Revival styling developed by Lyle during the early stages of his practice in response to this particular commission. Archival evidence reveals that Lyle was engaged to prepare plans for the gatehouse by combining two existing buildings beneath a Georgian Revival façade. Instead, the gatehouse was constructed of new materials, but Lyle's unusual design was retained. It displays Georgian Revival motifs in the roof features, dormer windows and classical detailing, yet the deliberate asymmetry with the offset placement of the main entrance, the varied widths of the bays and the different-sized windows openings is an atypical application of the style.

Contextually, with its origin as a gatehouse or lodge for the Maclean estate, the property at 7 Austin Terrace is historically linked to the enclave of residential estates that developed along Austin Terrace, including the neighbouring Spadina (1866, with additions up to 1912), Henry Pellatt's Casa Loma (1909-13, with lodge and stables also extant), and Lenwil (designed and occupied by architect E. J. Lennox, 1913-15). The John B. McLean House contributes to the character of the neighbourhood where the group of large surviving estate houses and auxiliary buildings have a strong visual presence overlooking the city from the escarpment above Davenport Road.

Heritage Attributes
The heritage attributes of the property at 7 Austin Terrace are:

• The 1½-storey house form building completed in 1910
• The scale, form and massing of the structure with the 1½-storey rectangular plan
• The stucco cladding and wood detailing
• The gable roof with tall brick chimneys, gabled wall dormers with pediments, and a wood cornice
• The main entrance, which is asymmetrically placed on the north façade in a classical doorcase with columns, pilasters and an entablature with dentils beneath a segmental-arched pediment
• On the north façade, the flat-headed window openings with wood trim
• The covered porch with classical detailing on the west elevation
• The placement of the 1910 building on the south side of Austin Terrace

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 27th day of January, 2010, which is February 26, 2010. The notice must set out the reason(s) for the objection, and all relevant facts.

Dated at Toronto this 27th day of January, 2010

Ulli S. Watkiss
City Clerk