Description of Historic Place

The Curnoe Property is located at 38 Weston Street, on the north side of Weston Street, east of Wellington Road and west of Trevithen Street, in the City of London. The two-storey brick and wood residence was constructed in 1891.

The property was designated, by the City of London, in 1993, for its historic or architectural value or interest, under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act (By-law L.S.P. – 3197-284).

Heritage Value

The Curnoe Property is associated with the production of fine art within the City of London. The Curnoe Property building was originally constructed in 1891 as the workshop for Knowles and Company Lithographers. Established in 1888, Knowles and Company Lithographers was an innovative company known for its production of fine art prints. Thomas Knowles Jr., the company's founder, lived at 34 Weston, known as the Litho Villa. Other members of the Knowles family also lived close by and at one time occupied the entire north side of Weston Street.

The Curnoe Property is also associated with Gregory Richard Curnoe. Mr. Curnoe's contributions to the City of London and the world of art are impressive. Born in London in 1936, Mr. Curnoe was a visual artist, musician and writer who was instrumental in making London one of Canada's most important regional centres for art. Mr. Curnoe's style, which was often described as Pop Art, expressed his beliefs on nationalism and regionalism. Curnoe's affection for the city of his birth was evident in his paintings of Victoria Hospital and “The Heart of London”. In 1981 Curnoe had a major retrospective at the National Gallery of Canada. Extensive collections of his work are held by the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario and Museum London.

Curnoe helped found the Nihilist Spasm noise band in 1965, the London Centennial Wheelers Bicycle Club in 1967 and the Forest City artist run gallery in 1973. In addition to Curnoe's work as an artist, he was the co-founder of Canadian Artists Representation (CAR/FAC), which demonstrates his enduring legacy of commitment to the rights of those working in Canada's cultural industries.

He produced two major writing projects in the latter part of his career. Published posthumously these were Deeds/Nation, a biographical directory of First Nations inhabitants of south western Ontario from 1750-1850, and Deeds/Abstract, a history from 8500 B.C. to the present, on the land on which his studio stood at 38 Weston Street.

Sources: City of London, By-law L.S.P. – 3197-284; The Canadian Encyclopaedia, 2007, Historica Foundation of Canada.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining element that contributes to the heritage value of the Curnoe Property include its:
- two storey brick and wood construction