REASONS FOR DESIGNATION – STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

 

James Bliss House

9231 Woodbine Avenue

 

c.1868

 

 

The James Bliss House is recommended for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act as a property of cultural heritage value or interest, as described in the following Statement of Significance:

 

Description of Property

The James Bliss House is a frame heritage house that has been incorporated into a modern, complementary commercial development at the south east corner of Woodbine Avenue and 16th Avenue. It is a local landmark that helps define the historical crossroads community of Bliss Corners, north of the hamlet of Buttonville.

 

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

 

Historical Value

James Bliss was a carpenter and wagon maker, whose shop stood until 1994 at the south east corner of Woodbine Avenue and 16th Avenue. The crossroads became known as Bliss Corners. He married Sarah, a daughter of Francis Button, and built a home on a one acre parcel of the Button family farm that was given to the couple in 1868. The frame house likely pre-dates the gift of land because Bliss was working as a wagon maker at this location at least as early as 1866, recorded in Mitchell’s Directory of that year. The rear wing of the house, which is built of vertical plank construction, appears to be a small dwelling of the 1850s that either pre-dates the front part of the existing house on this site, or was moved here from some location within the Buttonville mill village to form a kitchen tail for the Bliss House. In 1914, the property was sold to James French, a retired farmer from the Unionville area. French family descendants occupied the property until the 1980s. The minimal changes in ownership likely account for the long-term preservation of the house in near to original condition. In 1995, the old house was restored and renovated to become part of a new Royal Bank branch.

 

Architectural Value

The James Bliss House is a well-preserved example of a modestly-scaled 19th century tradesman’s house. As a house built in two distinct periods using different construction methods, it is a noteworthy example of an evolved building. The underlying vertical plank wall structure of the rear wing is locally rare. Although the basic Georgian Tradition cottage form of the Bliss House is representative of the Buttonville area, the gabled entrance vestibule, with its delicate bargeboards, makes this a unique example of its type.

 

 

 

Contextual Value

The James Bliss House is one of four 19th century buildings that define the former crossroads hamlet of Bliss Corners. As part of the 1995 commercial development on the same property, the former house is an excellent example of adaptive re-use of a modestly-scaled heritage building and its successful integration into a larger new building.

 

Significant Attributes

The physical attributes of the James Bliss House that are its character-defining elements include:

 

-         Form of the frame building;

-         Masonry foundation;

-         Underlying vertical plank wall structure of the rear wing;

-         Vertical wood tongue and groove siding;

-         Wood window frames and projecting wood window sills;

-         Existing placement, proportions and 2 over 2 style of the window openings;

-         Gable roof with projecting, overhanging eaves;

-         Gable-roofed entrance vestibule with a panelled door and wood bargeboard trim;

-         Side umbrage style porch with wood post.

 

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