Duncan McPhee Building
Bylaw: (1983)-11115
Legal description: Pt Lot 86, Plan 8
Designated portions
- The limestone facades facing Quebec Street to the north and facing Norfolk Street on the south-west, including window and door openings. At 1 Quebec Street, it is permitted that compatible alterations may be made in the window and door locations at the ground floor or alterations which bring these windows and doors closer to the original design. The present Colonial store front design dates from 1954.
- The stone parapets which extend above the roof at the eastern end wall, at the dividing wall between the higher building at 1 Quebec St. and the lower building to the south and at the southeasterly end wall. It would be permitted to cover or alter the eastern end wall and/or south-easterly end wall.
- The present form and profile of the roofs and the cornice of 1 Quebec Street.
Property history
This two-storey, two-part building of local limestone is a distinguished example of mid-nineteenth century architecture in Guelph. The southern portion, (99 Norfolk Street) was built in 1853 by John Catchpole, tinsmith, grandson of Henry Catchpole who bought the land from the Canada Company in 1836. Tradition claims it to have been the first stone structure erected on Norfolk Street.
An impressive extension (1 Quebec Street) was added in 1864, at the corner of the property, by George Howard, Guelph’s mayor when the City was incorporated in 1879. The structure, built with superior cut-stone masonry and crowned with a handsome cornice and curved roof, has fine proportions and a gracefully curved corner façade.
In 1954, the total building was rehabilitated by Duncan-McPhee Interiors. Both units retain their historic character with only limited, sympathetic alterations.
The designation covers the northerly and south-westerly facades of stone at No. 1 Quebec Street and Nos. 99-101 Norfolk Street, the roof profiles and the stone parapets of the end walls which frame the roof. The interior, with other exterior walls to the south-east and east, are excluded, as is the brick addition of later date to the east.