Bylaw: (1992)-14224
Legal description: Part Lot 5, Plan 113
Designated portions
The designation includes:
- All exterior stone walls of the building including the limestone façade and all granite fieldstone walls
- All carved and cut stone ornamentation on the Ontario Street façade
- All door and window openings located on all designated stone exterior walls
- All original window frames and original main entrance door frame and transom, excluding the glass
- The roof line over the original stone building including the stone chimney and wood finial;
- The existing wood door at the main front entrance, excluding the more modern stained glass.
The designation excludes the front concrete stoop and the rear frame addition.
It is intended that any non-original features may be returned to documented earlier designs or to their documented original form without requiring City Council permission for an alteration to the designation.
Property history
Built circa 1883 for local teamster James Chambers, this one-and-a-half storey stone dwelling is one of the earliest houses built in the Sir John A. MacDonald Survey, which was registered by Canada’s first Prime Minister in 1856. The dwelling is characterized by fine stone masonry work, the main façade being finished with randomly coursed local limestone accentuated by stone quoins, and the side and rear walls being constructed of cut granite fieldstone. Of particular significance are the double-arched windows embellished with limestone surrounds and carved stone arched lintels and keystones. The main front entrance is similarly decorated with limestone surrounds and an arched lintel highlighted by a central, finely carved head of a bearded man.
The house was occupied by James Chambers and his family to 1887, when it was purchased by Charles Berberich, a local carriage and wagon manufacturer with the firm Berberich and O’Donnell on Gordon Street. The property remained in the Berberich family until 1965. The 1992 owners, Valerie and David Pauloff, are responsible for restoring many of the original interior and exterior details of the house.
Elements of the building being designated include all exterior stone walls of the dwelling, including all carved and cut stone ornamentation on the Ontario Street façade. Also included in the designation are all window and door openings located on the stone exterior, including the original window frames and original main entrance door frame and transom. The existing wooden door at the main front entrance is also designated excluding the door’s stained glass which is a more recent replacement. The existing roof line over the one-and-a-half storey stone building is also designated, including the stone chimney and wood finial. The front concrete stoop and rear frame addition are not included in the designation.