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Dally Journal · Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1987 M A N Y STYLES, M A N Y M ATE R IA LS Qid Oakville Buildings Made To Last By WALTER MOORHOISE 001. Walter Moorhouse, K.H.A.I.C!., Is a retired architect, form erly of the firm of Georgn and Moorhouse, Toronto. Ilis tire less work in photograph ing Oakville's oldest build ings before they fall under (he w recker's hammer has resulted In a collection of priceless negative* without which this centennial issue could never have been completed, and which fu ture historians will find of great value. Col. Moorhouse has also contributed his own writings and news paper clippings to aid the e d i t o r s In researching many o f the articles in the issue. Here lie looks with an architect' s eye at the building styles and methods of construction used tn Old Oakville. of fram e construction, rough `E rch less' ' and in the Romain sheeted and clapboard covered. house on First St. Rough-cast becam e the fashion later and was carried flush with LONG TRAINING the old corner-boards. In those days a strict system Before the mills produced hem lock lath, " ren t" lath was m adf o f apprentice trade training was Excavation was done mainly by splitting thin boards with a maintained, covering a period of by tough spade work, though hatchet and stretching them tn several years, and a m aster mas scrapers of one or two horse form a plaster key, as m ay still on or carpenter was an im power were com ing into U6c\ be found in many of the early portant m em ber of the com munStone from the liv e r bed or types. it y -. hooked from the lake bottom by Speaking generally, stonemas Outside walls w ere of 6 " posts stone-hookers form ed our found ons were m ainly Scots and brick ation walls, though som e lim e resting on a wall plate, with a layers and carpenters English stone was brought back from roof plate at the eaves which and Irish, though Oakville also Kingston for schooner ballast, were usually about 4'-6" above had som e French - Canadian nptably at the old Stone W are the bedroom floor. F loor beams were tenoned into posts and shipwrights. house on the Sixteen. A fter a rough plan and sketch plates, and sometimes keyed elevations had been m ade, the F o r m ortar and plaster base, with oak dowels. details of cornices, doors, windin which cow-hair was the trad Knee braces w ere fitted be itional binder, quicklime had to tween co m e r posts and rool ows and trim were worked out be slaked, and the old steaming plates, which stiffened up the from "E xem p la rs." These hand m ortar bed appeared on the structure and were thus of great books form ed the library of the job shortly after excavation start value in house-moving operations m ill and w ere m ainly based on so-called Colonial designs, the ed. which were o f frequent occur Am erican equivalent of " G eorg rence. ian." FEW LOG Mouldings for cornices, wind E xcept for a few log-houses, BROAD-AXE ow sash, door trim and base all houses prior to 1849 w ere w ere `stuck' by hand, using a Tim bers were squared with thf sort o f plane with a knife shap broad-axe, razor sharp and an ed to the profile of the mould awkward tool except in expert ing. hands. Later on one finds exam B rick was laid up as a rule in ples of tim ber whip - sawed, re> ordinary bond with headers ev cognized by the split ends where ery fifth course, though a few they rested on the edge of the examples o f alternate header saw-pit. and stretcher (Flem ish bond) Rafters were often unfinished testify to the quality of the old slabs som etim es with the bar!* craftsmen. on. These w ere rough sheeted and cedar shingled. Full basements were rare and FIRST BRICK foundations w ere seldom carried The first brick house in Oak m ore than three feet under ground, with perhaps a small ville was built by Samuel Law cellar accessible from kitchen or son about 1849 and form s a part o f the present house at 12 Law woodshed. son St. None o f the m odem techniques for winter building FRENCH WORKERS w ere yet in use, so the brick layer becam e a plasterer during Some old houses have French the winter months. casem ents on the main floor, Old buildings were seldom de perhaps due to the influence of molished but often m oved to oth ship carpenters from the French Village. Sash windows w ere ap proxim ately 2\'a feet by four feet with six eight-by-10-inch panes In each sash with the, longer dimension vertical, the upper sash being usually fixed. Floors w e r e of white pine, som etim es 12" wide, but they w ere m ostly carpeted. There is a good exam ple at the Patterson house at 19 N avy St., where such floors, free of carpets and polished, reveal the beauty of the old wood. This is one of the finest old homes of Oakville, but was rath er spoiled in the 1880' s by brick veneering and Victorian features, though none the less o f architec tural interest. TWO STOVES Chimney's were carried on brackets on the bedroom floor, usually one In each gable. Tw o stoves at least w ere used ii* winter, and a fair proportion of the heat produced w as radiated from the stove pipes passing thr ough the various room s. B rick houses date from 1849, -either of brick m ade locally or im ported from Oswego. The first inside plumbing ap peared about 1856 in the larger houses, notably R. K. Chisholm's We are so accustom ed to han dy modern m aterials and m ech anical devices for construction that we find it hard to imagine working with the tools and meth ods of Oakville's early days. er sites. At times they were built in 1869 on what is now the subdivided and m oved, especial site of the new Fire-Hall. ly hotels, portions of which m ay SAILOR'S HOUSE be found in several existing Oak A good exam ple o f the influ ville buildings. ence of the so - called 'Federal E xam ples of this sub-division ist' style so frequently seen in m ay be found at 154 King St., Atlantic coast towns below the which originally form ed the two border, is the house on Trafalgar north bays of the Frontier House Rd., built in 1870 by a veteran at the corner of King and Navy sailor, Capt. F. J. Brown, though Sts. The Uplegrave house at it now lacks the original gallery Lakeshore Rd. and Reynolds St. around the cupola. The Rom ain house at 24 was halved and the east portion m oved to the next lot, but has recently been demolished. The rear portion of ThompsonSmith's house was m oved down Second St., to the next lot and w as for years the residence of the late George Molesworth, a well - known architect. MANY STYLES Architectural Notes: A feature o f m any old houses was the Main Entrance door with side-lights as at the McDonald house at 176 Front St., and at the Me- H Corquodale house at 143 Front St. The eave co m ice with its re turns at the gable is a regular feature; and in som e cases, as at the O'Connor house, 75 Reyn olds St., built in 1850, pilasters take the place of co m e r boards with moulded caps under the eave cornice. Another feature is the entrance door which has an early V ictor ian character. This house is one o f the best preserved of Oak ville's old houses, because it was superbly built and possibly because it has remained in the same fam ily. The advent of the Greek re vival m a y be seen where the outside window trim has a slight ly pedimented head. One o f the best exam ples o f this style in both proportion and detail was the Methodist - Episcopal Church First St., is notable for its Italianate character. It was built by W. F . Rom ain about 1856 and though much allered still shows the quality of its crafts manship both outside and in. Romain was probably the orig inator of the Oakville Parks Board and was responsible for much of the eariy tree playtime, as many fine old maples# still flourish though planted shortly after Confederation. I $ r pm , p K '# i p R O M A IN Front door shows HOUSE craftsmanship O LD STONB W A R E H O U S E S T IL L S T A N D IN G UPTEG RAVE HOUSE, R EC EN TLY TORN DOW N Original house was split into two homes R elic o f mid-century wheat boom EXTRA COPIES ) of the JOURNAL - RECORD CENTENNI LIMITED QUANTITIES M AY BE ORDERED THROUGH THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 1 3 7 RANDALL STREET OR BY CALLING 8 4 5 - 4 2 3 7 V EDITION LIMITED QUANTITIES M AY BE ORDERED THROUGH THE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 137 RANDALL STREET OR BY CALLING 8 4 5 - 4 2 3 7 ARE AVAILABLE