Inventory Report: 4243 Sixth Line, Biggar Farm

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59: 4243 Sixth Line, Biggar Farm

1. Description of Property Municipal Address 4243 Sixth Line Name (if applicable) Biggar Farm Legal Description PT LT 15, CON 2 TRAFALGAR, NORTH OF DUNDAS STREET , AS IN 783783, EXCEPT PT 1, PE150

; OAKVILLE/TRAFALGAR Location of Property Located at 4243 Sixth Line, comprising of a square parcel of land directly south of the 407

Express Toll Route and north of Burnhamthorpe Rd. East. Ownership Private- Bell Canada Access Access was granted by tenant. Site inspection was done September 10, 2015 (AB, CU, ES) Current Use Residential, Existing Designation Listed on the Register of Properties of Cultural Heritage Value of Interest (NOT Designated).

Description: “This property has potential cultural heritage value for its historic farmstead, including the Victorian style brick farmhouse, barn and outbuilding. This area is zoned Parkway Belt Agriculture.”

General Description This large property has a Victorian style farmhouse (built 1898) with a one-and-a-half-storey frame tail (likely c.1850s), 19th century bank barn and drive shed and several other outbuildings. There are open fields to the east and south, 407 Express Toll Route to the north, and Sixth Line to the west. It has a large cellular tower on site. The property was owned by one of the first settlers’ of Trafalgar Township, the Biggar family. They operated and farmed the land until 1985.

Priority Level High

Figure 1: Farmhouse (south elevation) and gravel laneway (AB 2015)

Sixth Line

FarmhouseField

ManurePit

Barn

NewerBuilding

CellTower

Old FuelPump

Pond

High

way

407

Sixth Line

Farmhouse Field

ManurePitBarn

NewerBuilding

Cell

Tower

Old FuelPump

Pond

Highway 4

07

LEGEND

4243 Sixth Line

Cultural Heritage LandscapeInventory Map

Drawing not to scale

Corporation of theTown of Oakville1225 Trafalgar RdOakville, ONL6H 0H3

Watercourse

Site Structures

Vegetation

Assessment Boundary

Building

CHL Study Area

Heritage District

Heritage Trail

Parkland

Park Trail

Road

Cemetery

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2. Key Recommendations Priority = High

Rationale for priority level:

• High potential for neglect of cultural heritage resources;

• All existing built and natural cultural heritage resources may not have been identified or included in current listing.

Recommendations for future action:

• Prepare a full evaluation report to confirm and map the heritage attributes of the property; and

• Designation under Part IV of the OHA.

3. Documentation and Inventory of Built Form List of Built Features:

There are four main structures on the property:

1. Farmhouse: The farmhouse is a two storey, brick, Victorian style house built c. 1898. The foundation is built of stone and it has a hipped roof with asphalt shingles. Notable features includes its decorative brickwork on exterior, stone lintels and sill, two large brick chimneys ends, brick voussoirs on basement windows, and a date stone in the gable roof which reads 1898. Aluminum siding and stone veneers have been added to façade, and additions to the rear and side porch.

2. Bank Barn: A Gambrel style bank barn is located at the north-eastern portion of property. Built in the late 19th c. is it a large T shaped, two storey building made of vertical board and batten, a gambrel and side gable intersecting roof line and large wooden sliding doors on upper north level. It is built on a stone foundation, with areas of cinderblock, and has multiple window openings with brick voussoirs and single wooden doors. To the east of the bank barn is a remnant of a silo tower, still mostly intact. The barn and silo appear to be not in use.

3. Driveshed: This vernacular style building is located at the end of the main gravel drive way in the middle of the property. The two storey, vernacular building is made of vertical board and batten and built in the late 19th c. Window opening (no windows), at the gable end roof. There are large wood sliding doors on lower level.

4. Workshop: This square building is located between the main house and barn complex and built c. 1940. It is a one storey, vernacular building with a hipped roof, overhanging eaves and made with etched concrete blocks. It has a garage door opening on the east side and multiple window openings and two saltbox dormers on the north and south elevation.

Additional Structures on Site:

• More recent barn (farmer’s market storefront and cold storage area); • Bell Cellular tower, behind the new barn; • Large circular concrete waste holding area, located on the eastern portion of the property, which may be the

remaining foundation of a silo;1 • Hydro poles; and

1 AREA (Architects Rasch Eckler Associates Ltd). 191 Burnhamthorpe Road East & 4243 Sixth Line, Oakville ON: Cultural Brief for the Development of the Star Oak Lands. Prepared for Star Oak Development Ltd. June 28th, 2013

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• Wooden fencing.

4. Documentation and Inventory of Natural Form List of Natural Features:

• In general the farm complex is found on flat topography around house & barn complex, with rolling topography in the surrounding fields;

• Old oak trees on eastern horizon likely associated with original property line; • 10 acres of land; • Gravel driveway has been altered to accommodate road raising for ramp over highway (used to go straight out to

road next to house); • Old yew at front of house; • Large pond with bulrushes surrounded by Silver Maple; • Old Ash trees lining the property;

5. Design (Typology) ‘X’ all that

apply Categories of Cultural Heritage Landscape

Description

Designed Landscape “…clearly defined landscape designed and created intentionally by man.”

X Organically Evolved Landscape

“…results from an initial social, economic, administrative, and/or religious imperative and has developed in its present form in response to its natural environment”

Relict Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…in which an evolutionary process came to an end at some time in the past.”

X Continuing Landscape (Evolved Landscape)

“…retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and which the evolutionary process is still in progress.”

Associative Cultural Landscape

“…justifiable by virtue of the powerful religious, artistic, or cultural associations of the natural element rather than material cultural evidence, which may be insignificant or even absent.”

6. Historical and Thematic Associations The 1806 Wilmot survey indicates that Lot 15, Concession II (NDS) was originally set aside as a clergy reserve (Figure 3). In 1842, James Applebe acquired the lot from the crown. It was purchased by Michael Biggar,2 a member of one of Oakville’s earliest settler families, in 1854.3 Michael Biggar is shown occupying the whole 200 acre lot on both the Tremaine’s 1858 Map of the County of Halton and the 1877 Map of Trafalgar, from the Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton. A farmhouse, surrounded by an orchard, is shown in a similar position to the extant residence on the 1877 map (Figure 4). This is likely the one-and-a-half storey frame tail extending off the rear (east) elevation of the 1891 red brick Victorian farmhouse.

2 Sometimes “Bigger”. 3 Town of Oakville. Heritage Planning, Planning Services. North Oakville Heritage Resource: Review and Strategy. March 2010.

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A second building, likely a farmhouse, is shown at the south end of Biggar’s property, fronting Burnhamthorpe Road. This second building was the likely subject of archaeological investigation in 2012. The Stages 3 and 4 archaeological assessment resulted in a registered site, AjGw-500; a Euro-Canadian homestead dating from the 1830s to 1860s.4

Among Oakville’s early exports were timber and potash, as local farmers undertook the process of clearing their land. By the 1840s and 1850s a great deal of land had been cleared and wheat fields were quickly established, followed by diversified grain crops. Following the crash in wheat price in 1857, fruit, in particular strawberries began to be farmed commercially. By 1870, the area had more than 300 acres of strawberries and orchards were thriving in other parts of the township.5

Descendants of the Biggar family, in particular sons Albert and James, occupied the house and managed the farm until around 1985.6 The property was purchased by Bell Cellular in 1992.

The construction of the 407 Express Toll Route took place in the mid 1990’s, and can be seen and heard from the property as it lies immediately to the north. The most significant changes to the property from the highway extension was the change to Sixth Line frontage, which force the street edge to be banked and significantly reduced the house front yard.

It is currently known as Schulz Farm.

Figure 3: 1806 Wilmot survey showing Clergy reserves on Lot 15, Concession II (NDS) (Wilmot, 1806)

4 Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport, AjGw-500: Master Site Record and Site Update. 5 Griffin, George A., Oakville: past and present, Toronto: Griffin & Griffin, 1912. 6 AREA (Architects Rasch Eckler Associates Ltd). 191 Burnhamthorpe Road East & 4243 Sixth Line, Oakville ON: Cultural Brief for the Development of the Star Oak Lands. Prepared for Star Oak Development Ltd. June 28th, 2013.

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Figure 4: Michael Biggar's farmstead as shown on 1877 map of Trafalgar Township (Pope, 1877)

7. Contextual Associations Land use in the vicinity of the Biggar Farm is primarily agricultural, and the property is surrounded by actively cultivated fields to the east, south and west. The 407 Express Toll Route is located along the north of the property. The Biggar farm is historically associated with a much larger area of land comprising 200 acres, which once extended from Burnhamthorpe Road, on the south, to Lower Baseline, on the north.

8. Evaluation (O. Reg 9/06)

O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Potentially Met (Y/N)

Potential Justification

1. The property has design value or physical value because it,

i. is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material, or construction method,

Y

The Biggar Farm may be representative of the evolution of a 19th century, Trafalgar Township farm. Some of the buildings may be early examples of vernacular agricultural or residential architecture.

ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or N Not shown.

iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement. N Not shown.

2. The property has historical value or associative value because it,

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O.Reg.9/06 Criteria Criteria

Potentially Met (Y/N)

Potential Justification

i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community,

Y

The Biggar Farm is associated with the agricultural heritage of Trafalgar Township.

ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or

N Not known.

iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community.

N Not shown.

3. The property has contextual value because it,

i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area, N Not shown.

ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or Y

The property may be historically linked to the surrounding agricultural fields that once comprised part of the larger Biggar farmstead.

iii. is a landmark. N Not shown.

9. Photographic Documentation

Figure 5: Rear elevation, showing one-and-a-half-storey tail (CU 2015)

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Figure 6: View of outbuildings from house (AB 2015)

Figure 7: Bank barn, north elevation (AB 2015)

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Figure 8: Bank barn, south elevation and additional outbuildings, silo (AB 2015)

Figure 9: Drive shed, east elevation (AB 2015)

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Figure 10: Cell tower and waste holding area (AB 2015)

10. Analysis & Recommendations Potential Heritage Value:

The Biggar Farm may have heritage value as an early and representative example of a 19th century farmstead and because of its historical associations with 19th century farming in Oakville. Its heritage value will depend on the integrity of the property (the extent to which it retains original elements of a 19th century farmstead) in comparison with other farmsteads in the Town. The value may lie in the collection of buildings created for agricultural purposes, and their placement on the site and in relation to the road and fields, more than in individual buildings.

Actions:

The Biggar Farm is particularly vulnerable to development pressure, and is recommended as a high priority. It is recommended that a full evaluation be prepared to compile further property-specific historical information and to confirm and document the heritage attributes of the property. It is recommended that this property be considered for designation under Part IV of the OHA.

A ‘high’ priority level is recommended for the following reasons:

● High vulnerability for loss of tenant and possible neglect of cultural heritage resources by owner; ● All existing built and natural cultural heritage resources may not have been identified or included in current listing.

11. Sources Ashe, David and Burnell, Joyce. "Oakville Street Names and Landmarks," (London, ON: Burnell Creighton Publishing), 2007.

Bourke, Judith “Sixteen Hollow – 1820-1880,” n.d., Accessed August, 2015 http://www.oakville.ca/culturerec/is-sixteen.html

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Griffin, George A., Oakville: past and present, Toronto: Griffin & Griffin, 1912.

Ministry of Tourism Culture and Sport. Database Records, “AjGw-500: Master Site Record and Site Update,” 2015.

Pope, J.H. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Halton, Ont. Toronto: Walker & Miles. 1877. Accessed online August 2015, from http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/searchmapframes.php

Town of Oakville. North Oakville Inventory of Heritage Resources Sheet.

Town of Oakville Heritage Register: Section F. Last updated: October 24th, 2014. Found online at http://www.oakville.ca/assets/2011%20planning/hrtg-SectionF-2015.pdf

Trafalgar Township Historical Society. Early Ward 5 History. Accessed online October 2015, from http://www.tths.ca/ward5.html