Notice of Intention to Designate

The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill

Re:       Notice of Intention to Designate
             111 Richmond Street
             City of Richmond Hill ON L4C 3Y6 
             City File No.: D12-07365

Take notice that the Council of the Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill (“Council”) intends to designate the above noted property as a property of cultural heritage value or interest under part IV and pursuant to section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990,c.0.18.

And take notice that the Council of the Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill stated their intention to designate said property under the Ontario Heritage Act on March 27, 2024.

A statement explaining the cultural heritage value or interest of the property and a description of the heritage attributes of the property is set out below.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest:

Dating to c. 1860 and c. 1885, the Gaby House at 111 Richmond Street has design and physical value as a representative example of Picturesque Gothic Revival residential architecture in Richmond Hill. The building has retained its scale, form, massing, and orientation on the north side of Richmond Street. The building also retains many architectural details that are representative of the Picturesque style including the T-plan form, cross-gabled roof, and decorative details including the dichromatic brick cladding, mansard-roofed bay window, segmental-arched windows with brick voussoirs, wooden lugsills and two-over-two window units, and the bellcast verandah with turned wooden posts and decorative spindlework trim.

The Gaby House has historical value for its direct associations with the Gaby family, who owned the property from 1859 to 1937. Frederick Gaby, an early English settler and farmer in Richmond Hill, assembled the subject property between 1859 and 1860, and lived on the property with his wife and children during the 1860s and 1870s. After Frederick Gaby’s death in 1880, the property was bought by his son, Levi, who expanded the and overbricked the house c. 1885. Levi Gaby ran an express cartage business from the village to Toronto, known as “Gaby’s Express” during the 1890s. Levi’s cartage business served the local community by delivering and collecting parcels, freight, and coal for Richmond Hill residents. Levi’s wife, Sarah (Pugsley) Gaby, was granted the property following her husband’s tragic death in 1900, and owned the property until her death in 1937.

The Gaby House has contextual value because it is important in defining, maintaining, and supporting the fine-grained late-19th and early-20th century residential character of Richmond Street, and the historical character of Richmond Hill’s village core more broadly.

The Gaby House also has contextual value because it is functionally and historically linked to the Eliza Gaby House directly to the east at 103 Richmond Street, which Levi Gaby built for his widowed mother on the neighbouring property c. 1886.

Description of Heritage Attributes:

• The house’s Picturesque Gothic Revival architectural style and material palette, popular at the time Levi Gaby expanded and overbricked the house c. 1885 and which contribute to the historical character of Richmond Street and Richmond Hill’s Village Core more broadly;
• The scale, form and massing of the 1 ½-storey building with a T-shaped plan;
• The cross-gabled roof with south and east gable-ends;
• The rubble-stone foundation and buff-brick cladding with red-brick quoins and radiating voussoirs (now painted white);
• The segmental-arched windows, with radiating brick voussoirs, wooden lugsills, and two-over-two window units;
• The principal entrance on the house’s south elevation, featuring a paneled front door and sheltered by a bellcast-roofed verandah with turned wooden posts and decorative spindlework brackets and trim;
• The mansard-roofed projecting bay window on the house’s south elevation, with pressed-metal roofing;
• The house’s scale, siting, and orientation on the north side of Richmond Street, on a property owned by the Gaby family from 1859 to 1937.

Note: the house’s later rear (north) addition is not considered to possess heritage attributes.

Notice of Objection:

Any person who objects to the above noted Council’s intention to designate shall, within 30 days after the publication of this notice, serve on the Clerk of the City of Richmond Hill, a Notice of Objection setting out the reason for the objection and all relevant facts.  The last day to submit the Notice of Objection is May 8, 2024.

Service may be made digitally by email to clerks@richmondhill.ca or by delivery personally to the City Clerk or by Regular Mail at the following address:

Stephen M.A. Huycke, City Clerk
The City of Richmond Hill
225 East Beaver Creek Road
Richmond Hill ON  L4B 3P4

Obtaining Additional Information:

Additional information about heritage planning at the City of Richmond Hill may be obtained by contacting Heritage Planning City staff by e-mail at heritage@richmondhill.ca. Take note that a Notice of Objection may only be served to the Clerk of the City of Richmond Hill as stated above.

Dated this 8th day of April, 2024

Stephen M.A. Huycke, City Clerk
The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill
225 East Beaver Creek Road
Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 3P4
E-mail: clerks@richmondhill.ca