Notice of Intent to Designate - 32 Richmond Street

Notice of Intention to Designate

The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill

Re:       Notice of Intention to Designate
             32 Richmond Street
             City of Richmond Hill ON L4C 3X9
             City File No.: D12-07354

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 1881, the William Harrison Rental House at 32 Richmond Street has design and physical value as a good representative example of late-Victorian Ontario Gothic Revival architecture in Richmond Hill. The building has retained its original scale, form, massing and orientation on the south side of Richmond Street. The building also retains many original architectural details that are representative of the Ontario Gothic Revival style including an asymmetrical floor plan, steeply pitched cross-gabled roof with gingerbread bargeboard trim, decorative dichromatic brick-work, and gothic-arched windows with original wooden window units featuring decorative tracery.

The William Harrison Rental House also has design and physical value for the high degree of craftsmanship and artistic merit displayed in a number of its features, including its elaborate dichromatic patterned brickwork featuring red brick quoining, stringcourses, and banding, gingerbread bargeboard trim, and original wood window units with Y-shaped tracery.

The William Harrison Rental House has historical value for its direct association with William Harrison. Harrison was Richmond Hill’s second Reeve, owner and operator of a significant saddle-and-harness-making business, and one of the village’s first local historians. William Harrison built the dwelling in 1881, and rented it out as an income property for nearly 20 years. As a local business owner and active citizen involved in establishing and leading many of the village’s early organizations and societies, William Harrison was a significant member of the community who contributed to the development of Richmond Hill in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The William Harrison Rental 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 both Richmond and Elizabeth Streets, and the historical character of Richmond Hill’s village core more broadly.

The William Harrison Rental House also has contextual value because it is physically, functionally, historically, and visually linked to its surroundings within “Harrison’s Corner,” a cluster of buildings located at the southeast corner of Richmond and Elizabeth Streets owned by William Harrison in the late 19th century. Other surviving properties in “Harrison’s Corner” include the adjacent Clara Harrison Rental House at 42 Richmond Street (c. 1875), as well as the William Harrison Speculative House at 17 Elizabeth Street North (1885), with which it shares a particularly strong contextual link, expressed through a similarity of materials, style, and form.

Description of Heritage Attributes:

• The scale, form and massing of the 1 ½-storey building with an L-shaped plan;
• The house’s late-Victorian Ontario Gothic Revival architectural style and material palette, popular at the time Harrison erected the subject dwelling in 1881, and which contribute to the historical character of Richmond Street and Richmond Hill’s Village Core more broadly;
• The roof form and finishes, including:
• The steeply-pitched cross-gabled roof featuring gingerbread bargeboard trim at the north, east and west gable-ends;
  • The buff-brick cladding, laid in stretcher bond, with red stained-brick detailing, including projecting building base, stringcourses, banding, quoining, and radiating voussoirs;
  • The windows, including:
  • Segmental-arched window openings at the first storey, with radiating brick voussoirs, wooden lugsills, and historical wood window units with a two-over-two configuration;
  • Gothic-arched window openings at the second storey, with radiating brick voussoirs, wooden lugsills, and historical wood window units with a two-over-two configuration and Y-shaped tracery;
  • The projecting hip-roofed bay window on the principal (north) elevation, with gingerbread trim at the eaves; and
  • The small gothic-arched window above the front verandah, with historical wing-tipped wooden shutters;
    • The raised principal entrance located in the building’s ell, featuring a doorcase with a paneled wooden door and sidelights, and sheltered by a hip-roofed verandah on wooden posts;
    • The house’s scale, siting, and orientation on the south side of Richmond Street, in close proximity to several other properties owned by Harrison in “Harrison’s Corner”.

Note: the house’s later rear (south) 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