Intention to Designate 71 Claremont Drive, Hamilton

Description of Property

The 0.05-hectare property municipally addressed as 71 Claremont Drive, Hamilton, known as the Claremont Lodge or Auchmar Gatehouse, is comprised of a one-and-one-half storey stucco-clad brick structure constructed circa 1855. The property is located on the southeast corner of Claremont Drive and Arcade Crescent, in the historic Southam Neighbourhood, in the City of Hamilton.

Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest

The property at 71 Claremont Drive has design and physical value as a representative example of the Gothic Revival style of architecture, as demonstrated by its steeply pitched gable roof, decorative bargeboard, lancet windows, and projecting bay window. The property is also a rare surviving example of a gatehouse in Hamilton. Gatehouses were situated at the entrance of an estate and served as the accommodations for a gatekeeper, employed by the property owner to control access to the property. While functional, gatehouses also served as visual statements to the owners’ wealth and influence and were often modelled after the main estate house, as the property at 71 Claremont Drive has been modelled after the Auchmar Estate at 88 Fennell Avenue West. The property displays a high degree of craftsmanship in the form of its decorative bargeboard, mirroring that of Auchmar.

The historical value of the property lies in its association with prominent Hamiltonian Isaac Buchanan (1810-1883), a merchant and politician. In 1830, Buchanan moved from Glasgow to Lower Canada before establishing a dry good wholesale firm with his brother Peter (1805-1860) in 1834. In 1840, a branch of the firm was established in Hamilton and soon became one of the largest and most successful wholesale businesses in Upper and Lower Canada. Buchanan was instrumental in the formation of boards of trade in Upper Canada, and as a promoter in Hamilton’s commercial future, heavily invested in the Great Western Railway alongside Sir Allan MacNab. Buchanan was also elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1841, serving as the first Member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for Toronto following the formation of the Province of Canada that same year. Buchanan served as a member until 1843, and again as the representative for Hamilton between 1857 and 1864.

Contextually, the property is important in defining the character of the area. The Auchmar Gatehouse, located near the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, marks what was once the entrance to the long, formal driveway that led to the Auchmar manor house. Since its original construction, the Gatehouse has become physically separated from the Auchmar manor house through land severances and residential development. Although the contextual link between the two buildings no longer exists, the Gatehouse remains in its original location and provides a historical datum point marking the extent of the original land holding and the linkage between the Escarpment setting and the Auchmar Estate, located at the northeast corner of Fennell Avenue West and West 5th Street. Due to its prominent location on the corner of Claremont Drive and Arcade Crescent, shallow set-back, and commemorative plaque, the property is considered to be a local landmark.

Key attributes that embody the design / physical value of the property as being representative of the Gothic Revival style of architecture, a rare surviving example of a gatehouse, and demonstrating a high degree of craftsmanship, and its association with Isaac Buchanan as the gatehouse for his Auchmar Estate include:

• All elevations and roofline of the circa 1855 one-and-one-half storey stucco-clad brick structure, including its:
  • Steeply pitched cross-gable roof with its: 
    • Decorative bargeboard;
    • Wood fascia;
    • Dormer windows with lancet window openings, cut-stone sills, decorative bargeboard, and carved wood pendants; and
    • Brick chimneys.
  • Stucco facades;
  • Lancet windows in the upper storey and dormers with cut-stone sills and raised label moulding;
  • Projecting three-sided bay window in the first storey of the west façade with moulded wood cornice and tall flat-headed multi-pane windows;
  • Flat headed windows in the first storey with cut-stone sills and raised label moulding; and
  • Flat headed door openings with cut-stone sills.

The later rear additions, including the one-storey gable-roofed south addition and further one-storey shed-roofed addition, and the eastern one-storey side addition, are not considered to have heritage value or interest.

Key attributes that embody the contextual value of the property as a defining feature of the historical character of Claremont Drive, being physically and historically linked to its surroundings, and its status as a local landmark include its:

• Location fronting onto Claremont Drive and facing the edge of the Escarpment; and,
• Shallow setbacks from the public right-of-ways on Claremont Drive and Arcade Crescent.