The City of Burlington is moving to amend its Heritage Designation Bylaw as it relates to a historic piece of property in north Aldershot. The original home on the site burned down in 2020 and no longer requires designation. There is however an associated building that will maintain the historic designation.
The owner of the 52-acre property near Mountain Brow Road asked the city to remove the historic designation on the house as there is nothing left but ruins. He wants to build a large single-family home on the land.
The original house, known as “Woodhill,” was developed around 1833 by a Scottish-Canadian politician and agriculturalist named Adam Fergusson. He helped found the Town of Fergus, Ontario. Throughout his life, Fergusson was an advocate for agricultural innovations and became politically influential as a member of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada.
A Committee of Council agreed this week to remove the historic designation on the ruins of the original house but will keep the historic designation on the nearby “Woodhill Ice House” that was built into the side of the escarpment. Ice houses preceded refrigeration and were highly-insulated buildings constructed to store ice throughout the year.
“The Woodhill Ice House has design and physical value as a rare surviving example of a purpose-built ice house. The Woodhill Ice Houses’ gable roof, multi-light window and stone exterior walls echo the Scottish masonry techniques and design features of the main building, creating a tangible connection to the original house,” according to the staff report to a committee meeting this week.
