Notice of Intention to Designate - 13076 Leslie Street

Notice of Intention to Designate

The Corporation of the City of Richmond Hill

Re:       Notice of Intention to Designate
             13076 Leslie Street
             City of Richmond Hill ON L4E 1A2
             City File No.: D12-07289

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. 1853, the George Sproxton House at 13076 Leslie Street has design and physical value as a representative example of mid-19th-century Georgian farmhouse architecture in the former hamlet of Oak Ridges. The building has retained many of its original architectural features representative of the Georgian architectural style, including its rectangular plan, medium-pitched side-gabled roof, rubblestone base and red brick cladding with buff brick quoins and voussoirs, flat headed windows with six-over-six wood sash units, and the main raised entrance with a paneled wooden door and transom.

The subject property has historical and associative value as the former residence of two generations of the Sproxton family, who came to York County from Yorkshire, England in the early 19th century, and were early settlers and famers in Whitchurch Township. George Sproxton built the existing dwelling as part of his farmstead c. 1853, and the Sproxton family farmed the property from around 1850 to 1900.

The George Sproxton House is one of a number of nineteenth century farmhouses that help to define the historical agricultural character of the former hamlet of Oak Ridges in Whitchurch Township.

The George Sproxton House has stood on this property since c.1853, when it was part of a farmstead owned by the Sproxton family in Oak Ridges. As such, the subject property has additional contextual value as it possesses long-standing and significant physical, visual and historical links to its surroundings, including to remaining landscape features of the Sproxton farm, such as the original farm lane running west from Leslie Street, Hayes Lake (formerly Sproxton Lake) to the north, and the woodlands to the west. The subject property also has long-standing and significant physical, visual and historical links to the former agricultural community of Oak Ridges.

Description of Heritage Attributes:

• The scale, form and massing of the 1 ½-storey building with rectangular plan;
• The house’s modest Georgian farmhouse architectural style and material palette;
• The medium-pitched side-gabled roof;
• The building’s exterior materials, including the rubblestone foundation, and red-brick cladding with buff brick quoins and voussoirs;
• The balanced three-bay composition of the house’s south (front) elevation, comprised of a central doorway flanked by two windows;
• The balanced two-bay composition of the house’s east (side) elevation;
• The windows, including:
• Flat-headed window openings with stone sills and buff brick voussoirs, and historical wood six-over-six sash units (where extant); and
• Flat-headed basement windows on the east elevation with red brick voussoirs and quoining;
  • The paneled wooden door surmounted by a transom window with decorative diamond-shaped tracery on the house’s front (south) elevation;
  • The brick chimney at the west gable-end;
  • The house’s scale, siting, and orientation within a large former agricultural farmstead property on the west side of Leslie Street, north of Bethesda Side Road; and
  • The original access lane running west to the house from Leslie Street.

Note: the house’s west ‘summer kitchen’ addition is currently in a state of partial demolition, and is not considered to possess significant 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 24, 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 24th 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