Clarington plans to designate the Roy House Farmstead for historical and architectural value

The Municipality of Clarington intends to designate Roy House Farmstead, located at 2774 Concession Road 6, for its architectural and historical value under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Heritage designation is the formal recognition of the heritage value of a property and its significance to the community. It helps conserve important places for the enjoyment of present and future generations. Learn more about Clarington’s heritage properties at www.clarington.net/Heritage.

Reasons for Proposed Designation

Property description

The Roy House Farmstead at 2774 Concession Road 6 is located on the north side of Concession Road 6, east of Clemens Road, south of the Village of Tyrone in the Municipality of Clarington. The original 53.8-hectare property comprises agricultural fields, two barns, a garage and a 1.5-storey fieldstone farmhouse. The fieldstone house, severed from farmland, was constructed circa 1852.

Statement of significance and list of character-defining features

• Physical/Design Value: The farmhouse has design value as a rare example of a vernacular Georgian farmhouse with Regency/Picturesque features. The farmhouse’s 1.5-storey massing (full first and partial second floors) generally represents the Georgian style popular through the late 1800s in Ontario. However, features such as the large tripartite windows, high ground floor ceilings, “Chinoiserie” patterning on the transom and sidelights of the central entrance, and its siting at the top of a gentle slope are distinctly Regency/Picturesque in their character. Another rare design choice is the use of flat brick arches over openings with wide skewbacks. The farmhouse’s fieldstone material is representative of a common local material, less common in other jurisdictions, and is dressed with courses every 18 inches or so on the façade with “boulder coins” elevating the farmhouse’s design.
• Historic/Associative Value: The farmhouse and associated farmstead were developed by the Roy family. The Roy family emigrated from Scotland in the 1840s. William Roy purchased the property in 1845 and constructed the fieldstone farmhouse by 1852. William Roy was an active member of the local community, and the Roy family inhabited and actively farmed the property for over 130 years.
• Contextual value: The farmstead and surrounding agricultural fields maintain and support the rural character of the surrounding area. The farmstead contributes to an agricultural parcel fabric throughout the rural areas of the former Darlington Township that is characterized by rolling hills, farm fields and pastures, barns and other outbuildings, and 1.5 to 2-storey farmhouses built of stone or frame.
  The farmstead is located to maximize views to and from the property, supporting its Regency/Picturesque attributes. It has a large setback from the roadway and a long drive to a cluster of buildings, with the farmhouse proudly sitting in the forefront. The farmhouse appears low and rectangular from the roadway in a park-like setting.

Heritage Attributes

Key exterior elements that contribute to the property’s cultural heritage value include its:

• 1.5-storey massing (full first floor with partial second floor)
• Side gable roof with original wooden eaves with returns
• Symmetrical three bay façade with centrally located front door
• Dressed broken coursed fieldstone façade with “boulder quoins”
• Minimally dressed rubblestone side and rear walls
• Original window openings with wooden sills and flat red brick arches with skewbacks
• Three original wooden vertically sliding sash windows with 12-over-12 patterning on the ground floor of the west, north and east elevations
• Original large wooden tripartite windows with vertically sliding sash with nine-over-nine patterning on the central sashes and three-over-three on the side sashes on the façade.
• Original door opening with flat red brick arch and skewbacks, and transom and sidelights with “Chinoiserie” patterning
• Original basement window openings with flat red brick arches and skewbacks (two on front façade, one on each side wall toward the rear)
• Picturesque landscape with farmhouse set back from the road via a long, straight driveway, surrounded by agricultural fields

Objections

Any person who objects to a proposed designation may, within thirty days after the date of publication of the notice of intention, give the Clerk of the Municipality a notice of objection setting out the reason for the objection and all relevant facts.

If a notice of objection has been given, the Council of the Municipality of Clarington shall consider the objection and make a decision whether or not to withdraw the notice of intention to designate the property within 90 days after the end of the 30-day period.

Dated at the Municipality of Clarington, this 7^th day of May 2025

Contact

June Gallagher, B.A., Dipl. M.A., Municipal Clerk
40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, ON L1C 3A6