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John Buchan House

566, Dundas Street, London, Ontario, N6B, Canada

Reconnu formellement en: 2006/02/06

Buchan House, viewed from the southwest.; D. Menard, 2005
Buchan House, May 2005
Pas d'image
Pas d'image

Autre nom(s)

John Buchan House
Oakhurst
Buchan House

Liens et documents

Date(s) de construction

1872/01/01

Inscrit au répertoire canadien: 2008/01/18

Énoncé d'importance

Description du lieu patrimonial

Built in two stages in 1872 and 1887, Buchan House is a prominent two-and-a-half-storey red brick building located on the north side of Dundas Street, west of Adelaide Street North, in Central London.

The John Buchan House has been designated for its cultural heritage value by City of London By-law L.S.P.-3379-49.

Valeur patrimoniale

The John Buchan House is noted for its distinctive Italianate and Romanesque style architectural features, notably the twin turrets which frame its facade, the prominent centre gable and the stone lions guarding the front entrance. The building's distinctive architectural characteristics, which are indicative of the values and lifestyle of the late-19th century upper middle class, emphasize the contrast of a residential building situated on a busy commercial and institutional avenue.

The building's connection to prominent London figures and institutions in the 19th and 20th centuries adds to its importance. Located on land that was granted to the Crown by Reverend Benjamin Cronyn in 1845, it was later purchased by Thomas Aspden, who constructed a single family home in 1872; this structure now forms the rear of the present building. In 1887, Thomas Baker Escott, a local merchant who operated one of the most important wholesale grocery businesses in the southwestern Ontario, remodeled the structure by adding the turreted front section and naming it "Oakhurst."

Subsequent owner Albert Daniel Jordan established the London Institute of Musical Art there. Still later the building served multiple uses, including the "Oakhurst School for Girls", the Western Ontario Conservatory for Music and, in 1944, housing people of Japanese descent from British Columbia. In 1945, the Tweedsmuir Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion purchased the building and formed the Buchan House Limited Company to administer the house.

Sources: City of London By-law L.S.P.-3379-49; 'A History of 566 Dundas', L. Burt and J. Morrison (Buchan House Ltd), no date.

Éléments caractéristiques

Character defining elements that contribute to the building's heritage value include the:
- twin turrets with slate roofs and finials framing the front facade
- corbelled brick at the cornice and stone window head bands
- centre gable with decorative bargeboard, and returned eaves
- second floor bay constructed with engaged Doric columns resting on paneled woodwork
- front porch supported by Doric columns
- front entrance with double leaf doors, sidelights and transom
- three-storey bay on the west facade
- segmented arched windows with brick voussoirs
- decorative corbelled brick chimneys
- finials at both peaks of the main roof
- Italianate brackets on the rear portion which is white brick, later red washed.
- red brick on the front exterior facades

Reconnaissance

Juridiction

Ontario

Autorité de reconnaissance

Administrations locales (Ont.)

Loi habilitante

Loi sur le patrimoine de l'Ontario

Type de reconnaissance

Désignation du patrimoine municipal (partie IV)

Date de reconnaissance

2006/02/06

Données sur l'histoire

Date(s) importantes

1887/01/01 à 1887/01/01

Thème - catégorie et type

Exprimer la vie intellectuelle et culturelle
Les arts et l'enseignement
Établir une vie sociale et communautaire
L'organisation communautaire

Catégorie de fonction / Type de fonction

Actuelle

Historique

Résidence
Logement unifamilial

Architecte / Concepteur

s/o

Constructeur

s/o

Informations supplémentaires

Emplacement de la documentation

Office of Heritage Planner, Planning Department, City of London.

Réfère à une collection

Identificateur féd./prov./terr.

HPON06-0056

Statut

Édité

Inscriptions associées

s/o

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