Authority:     Toronto Community Council Report No. 7, Clause No. 54,
               as adopted by City of Toronto Council on May 11 and 12, 1999
Enacted by Council:  May 12, 1999        CITY OF TORONTO
                                       BY-LAW No.  282-1999

               To designate the property at 337 Jarvis Street (Samuel Platt House) 
                   as being of architectural and historical value or interest.

        WHEREAS authority  was granted  by Council  to designate  the property  at No. 337  Jarvis
Street as being of architectural and historical value or interest; and

        WHEREAS the Ontario Heritage Act authorizes the Council of a municipality to enact by-laws
to  designate real  property,  including  all  the buildings  and  structures  thereon, to  be  of
historical or architectural value or interest; and
 
        WHEREAS the Council of the City of Toronto has caused  to be served upon the owners of the
land and premises known as No.  337 Jarvis Street and upon the Ontario Heritage Foundation, Notice
of Intention to designate the property  and has caused the Notice of Intention to be published  in
a newspaper having a general circulation in the  municipality as required by the  Ontario Heritage
Act; and

        WHEREAS the reasons for designation are set out in Schedule  B  to this by-law; and

        WHEREAS no notice  of objection to the  proposed designation was served upon  the Clerk of
the municipality;

        The Council of the City of Toronto HEREBY ENACTS as follows:

        1.     The property  at No. 337 Jarvis  Street, more particularly  described and shown  on
Schedule  A  to  this by-law,  is designated as  being of  architectural and  historical value  or
interest.

        2.     The City Solicitor  is authorized to cause a  copy of this  by-law to be registered
against  the  property described  in Schedules   A  and   C   to this  by-law in  the proper  Land
Registry Office.

        3.     The City Clerk is authorized to cause a  copy of this by-law to be  served upon the
owners of the property  at No. 337 Jarvis Street and  upon the Ontario Heritage Foundation and  to
cause notice of this by-law to be published  in a newspaper having general circulation in the City
of Toronto as required by the Ontario Heritage Act.

        ENACTED AND PASSED this 12th day of May, A.D. 1999.

CASE OOTES,                                                                NOVINA WONG,           
        Deputy Mayor                                                                    City Clerk

(Corporate Seal)

                               SCHEDULE  A  TO BY-LAW No. 282-1999
In the  City  of Toronto  and  Province of  Ontario, being  composed  of part  of  Park  Lot 6  in
Concession 1 from the Bay, in the Geographic Township of  York, designated as PART 1 on  Plan 64R-
14680 deposited  in the Land  Registry Office for the Metropolitan  Toronto Registry Division (No.
64).

The easterly  limit of  Jarvis  Street as  confirmed  under  the Boundaries  Act by  Plan  BA-1893
(CT488073).

The  hereinbefore  described lands  being  delineated  by  heavy outline  on  Plan  SYE2922  dated
April 23, 1999, as set out in Schedule  C .

                               SCHEDULE  B  TO BY-LAW No. 282-1999
                                    Heritage Property Report 
                                       Samuel Platt House 
                                        337 Jarvis Street
                                          October 1996 

                                        Table of Contents:
                                       Basic Building Data

                                      Historical Background
Architectural Description

Context
Summary

Sources Consulted
Attachments:

I       Short Statement of Reasons for Designation
II      Location Map

III     Photographs
--------

Heritage Property Report
Basic Building Data:

Address:               337  Jarvis Street (east  side of  Jarvis Street,  north of  Gerrard Street
East)
Ward:                  6
Current Name:  Toronto Baptist Seminary
Historical Name:       Samuel Platt House
Construction Date:     1849-1850
Architect:             none found
Contractor/Builder:    none found
Additions/
Alterations:           porch and one-storey wing added; window sash altered
Original Owner:        Samuel Platt
Original Use:          residential
Current Use*:          educational
Heritage Category:     Neighbourhood Heritage Property (Category C)
Recording Date:        October 1996
Recorder:              HPD:KA
*this does not refer to permitted use(s) as defined in the Zoning By-law



Historical Background:
When  Toronto was founded as the Town of York in 1793, the area  north of Queen Street was divided
into a series  of park lots which  were distributed to government  officials. William  Jarvis, the
first  Provincial Secretary for Upper Canada,  received a lot directly north of the townsite where
his heirs  developed a  country estate  called   Hazelburn . In  1845, architect  John Howard  was
engaged to divide  Jarvis's lot into  a residential subdivision  entered via  a tree-lined  avenue
named Jarvis Street. While the upper reaches of the street attracted the leading Toronto  families
of the period, the area to the south was developed by successful, but less prominent residents.

In 1849,  Samuel Platt acquired a vacant site  on the east side of Jarvis Street, one lot north of
Gerrard Street East. Born in Northern Ireland  in 1812, Platt immigrated to  Canada in 1827. After
working as  a clerk  at Enoch  Turner's brewery  for four  years, Platt  erected  a distillery  at
Berkeley and Front Streets. Platt served as a councillor for St. Lawrence Ward from  1845 to 1851,
followed by a two-year stint as an alderman for St.  David's Ward in 1853 and 1854. In 1872, Platt
was one of  four citizens appointed to the Water Commission, which supervised  the construction of
the City's waterworks before  disbanding in 1877. As a  Conservative candidate, Platt  was elected
to  represent the federal riding  of East Toronto in 1873  and 1878. During the  1870s, Platt also
served as a director  of the Consumer' Gas  Company. James Austin, president  of the gas  company,
was Platt's  neighbour on  Jarvis Street (south  of Gerrard)  prior to constructing  a new  house,
 Spadina , on the Davenport Hill.
The Platt House was  completed in 1850 and  occupied by Samuel Platt until his death  in 1886. His
widow,  Elizabeth Lockett Platt, resided there until 1916 when the  property was acquired by Frank
D.  Read, a  clerk for  the Canadian  National Railway.  The Toronto  Baptist Seminary  began  its
continuing occupancy  of the site  in 1927. The Samuel  Platt House is  significant as  one of the
oldest remaining buildings on Jarvis Street.

Architectural Description:

The  Samuel Platt  House  displays features  identified with  the  Neoclassical style,  which  was
prominent in Ontario  residential architecture during  the mid  19th century. Incorporating  forms
based on Antiquity, the style was inspired by the archaeological  finds in 18th century Italy  and
the adaptation of  Roman motifs  in the  architectural pattern books  of English architect  Robert
Adam.

The Samuel  Platt House  rises two  stories above a  stone foundation  with a  brick base  course.
Constructed  of brick and trimmed with stone,  the building is covered by  a low-pitched truncated
hip roof  with extended eaves and four  end chimneys. The principal (west) facade is symmetrically
organized  with three  bays. In  the lower  storey, the  central  entrance features  a flat-headed
opening with  a flat multi-paned transom and three-quarter-length sidelights. The Classical porch,
with a gable roof,  columns and a name band, is a later addition. On either side  of the entrance,
a single three-part flat-headed  window opening has a  sliding sash window,  lintel and  corbelled
sill. The windows and  doors are decorated with  banded Classical  pilasters. In the upper  floor,
three windows  are set  in segmental-headed  openings with  moulded enframements and  a continuous
sill.



The side walls (north  and south) have segmental-headed window  openings. On the rear (east) wall,
a large semi-circular window opening is centred above  a ground-level entrance with a  transom and
sidelights. The other window  openings are flat-headed.  A two-storey addition is attached  to the
northeast corner of the building (this addition is not included in the Reasons for Designation).

Important interior features are  the cornice mouldings in the  centre hall and two principal rooms
(north and south) on the first floor.

Context:
The Samuel  Platt House is  located on the east  side of Jarvis Street, directly  north of Gerrard
Street East. On the south, Jarvis Street Baptist Church (1874-1875) occupies the northeast  corner
of Jarvis  and Gerrard  Streets. To the  east, Allan Gardens  fills most of  the block bounded  by
Jarvis, Gerrard, Sherbourne and Carlton  Streets. North of the Samuel  Platt House and  beyond the
park,  St.  Andrew's Presbyterian  Church (1878)  stands at  the  southeast corner  of Jarvis  and
Carlton Streets. All of the above-noted properties are  listed on the City of Toronto Inventory of
Heritage Properties.

On  the opposite (west)  side of  Jarvis Street,  between Gerrard  and Carlton Streets,  the semi-
detached  house form buildings at  No. 280 (1891), No. 288-290  (1890) and No. 314  (1865) and the
Frontenac Arms Hotel (1930) at No. 300 are also included on the Inventory of Heritage Properties.
Summary:
The  property  at 337  Jarvis  Street  is  identified for  architectural  and  historical reasons.
Completed in 1850 for  Samuel Platt, a brewer and politician,  the former residence is  one of the
earliest  surviving buildings on Jarvis Street. Located  on the east side of  Jarvis Street, north
of Gerrard Street East, the Samuel Platt House is distinguished by its Neoclassical design.

Sources Consulted:

Assessment Rolls, City of Toronto. 1849 ff.

City of Toronto Directories. 1850-1851 ff.
Goad's Fire Insurance Atlas. 1894.

History of Toronto and the County of York. Vol. II. C. Blackett Robinson, 1885.

MacRae, Marion,  and Anthony Adamson. The  Ancestral Roof. Domestic  Architecture of Upper Canada.
Clarke Irwin, 1963.

McHugh, Patricia. Toronto Architecture. A City Guide. 2nd ed. McClelland and Stewart, 1989.

Middleton, J. E. The Municipality of Toronto. Vol. II. Dominion Publishing Company, 1923.

Thompson, Austin Seton. Jarvis Street. Personal Library Publishers, 1980.

Kathryn Anderson/October 1996

-------

Attachment I

Short Statement of Reasons for Designation

Samuel Platt House

337 Jarvis Street
The  property at 337  Jarvis Street is  designated for  architectural and  historical reasons. The
house  was  constructed in  1849-1850  for Samuel  Platt,  a brewer  and  politician whose  family
retained the property until 1916. The Toronto Baptist Seminary has occupied the site since 1927.

The  Samuel Platt  House is  a surviving  example of  the Neoclassical  style. Rising  two stories
beneath a truncated hip roof  with extended eaves and four  end chimneys, the house is constructed
of  brick with  stone  detailing. Important  exterior  elements are  the  segmental-headed  window
openings on  all walls, the  entrances with transoms  and sidelights on  the principal (west)  and
rear (east) facades  and, on the west wall, the tripartite window openings and Classical detailing
of the window  enframements and pilasters. Important  interior features are  the cornice mouldings
in the centre hall and two principal rooms on the first floor.

Located on the east side  of Jarvis Street, north of Gerrard  Street East, the Samuel  Platt House
is one of  the earliest surviving  buildings on Jarvis  Street. Its  age and Classical  appearance
reflect  the early  development  of the  street as  Toronto's  most fashionable  mid-19th  century
neighbourhood.

                               SCHEDULE  C  TO BY-LAW No. 282-1999
                                       Schedule  C  on file