Notice of Intent to Designate Property of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

Take Notice that the Council of the City of Pickering intends to designate the following property as a property of cultural heritage value or interest under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. 0.18

5113 Old Brock Road
40M2774 Pickering, Ontario

Description of Property

5113 Old Brock Road is located on the east side of Old Brock Road. The property is located at the northeastern edge of the former Village of Claremont, Pickering.

Reason for Designation

Built in 1916, 5113 Old Brock Road is valued as a fine representative example of an early-twentieth century American Foursquare farmhouse. This is expressed through its square plan, two-storey scale, hipped roof, and varied design details, including the wrap-around verandah with its two-storey frontispiece.

5113 Old Brock Road has historical and associative value for its direct association with G.M. Forsyth, a historically significant municipal leader and farmer in Claremont. Forsyth held many major offices in Pickering Township and the Village of Claremont throughout his political career, culminating in his appointment as Warden of Ontario County in 1923. During his term as Reeve of Pickering Township, he was instrumental in bringing hydroelectric power to Claremont. This association is expressed through the grandeur of the farmhouse and its estate-style landscape treatment.

5113 Old Brock Road has contextual value for defining, maintaining, and supporting a rural character along Old Brock Road in Claremont. Sited on the northern edge of the village, the property’s agricultural landscape forms the backdrop to the late-nineteenth-century village fabric. Additionally, the property is considered a local landmark in Claremont.

Summary of Attributes for Designation

Key attributes that express the value of the farmhouse as a fine representative example of an early-twentieth century American Foursquare farmhouse, with eclectic architectural and landscape features are:

• Scale, form and massing of the two-storey house, with its square plan and flat-topped hipped roof;
• Wrap-around verandah, including the two-storey frontispiece, pedimented roof, and Tuscan columns;
• Five-sided single-storey bay window, covered by the verandah;
• Varied segmental-arch window openings;
• Dormer windows and chimneys protruding from the attic;
• Brick materials, laid in a stretcher bond pattern;
• Front driveway lined with mature trees;
• Raised cut-stone foundation;
• Its location on the east side of Old Brock Road, just north of the village of Claremont;
• Farmhouse, set back from and oriented towards Old Brock Road, with front-yard mature trees; and,
• Siting of the farmhouse atop a landscaped pedestal, marked by a retaining wall and split staircase.

Any person may, within 30 days of the publication of this Notice, send to the City Clerk, by email to clerks@pickering.ca, a notice of their objection to the proposed designation, together with a statement of reasons for the objection and all relevant facts.

A copy of the Historical/Architectural Designation Report PLN 11-25 is available in the Clerks Division, Pickering Civic Complex, One The Esplanade, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm or by calling 905.420.4611 or by e-mail at clerks@pickering.ca.