Thomas Ford house in downtown Milton will receive heritage designation

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Published March 8, 2023 at 2:01 pm

A house more than a century-and-a-half old in downtown Milton will receive a Heritage Designation.

The Thomas Ford House, located at 76 King St., was originally built for Thomas Ford. It features a one-and-a-half storey house with an addition on the rear. Set in a beautiful rustic garden, this restored building’s details and motifs are a fine example of the Gothic cottage style.

According to the report, the property is among the earliest houses built in the Foster Survey (Plan No. 7) in 1854, one of the very early subdivisions in Milton that were created even before Milton was incorporated as a Town in 1857.

Thomas Ford owned the house from 1888. He drove the hay wagon used by Henry Peacock and Palmer Book and delivered parcels from Eatons and Simpsons that were too large for the post office to deliver to homes. He received $1 daily for his services to the Canadian Pacific Express agents.

The house remained occupied by different generations of the Ford family till the present day. Although a fire occurred in the house in 2012, it received a Heritage award from the Town in 2020 for its conservation efforts.

The staff report highlights the following features that makes it suitable for preservation:

  • The original form, roof lines and massing of the one-and-a-half-storey house exterior (except for the addition)
  • Medium Gable roof with central façade gable
  • Gable Dormer with arched or lancet window with associated trim
  • Open veranda with moulded wood trim and Doric piers.
  • Central three-panel entrance door with shaped glass and thin wood trim
  • Two over two windows with trims on the front facade
  • Original wood cladding (with horizontal orientation and V-groove joint)
  • Double hung pine windows and door elements of the original house (front and sides of the main block), including their pediment heads

“In reviewing this application, staff recommends that the optimal conservation and protection measures for this heritage property is the designation of the property.”

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