Description of Historic Place

The John Pearse House is a vernacular two-storey fieldstone residence located in Hillside in northeast Scarborough. A substantial I-House executed in the Georgian style, the building features a shallow rectangular footprint, simple block-like form, rubble stone foundation, thick masonry walls laid in Aberdeen bond, a slate hipped roof, brick chimneys, a symmetrical three-bay façade with rectangular openings, and blank side elevations. The companion fieldstone John Pearse Coach House, also a federal heritage building (Recognized), stands just southeast of the house.

Heritage Value

The John Pearse House is a federal heritage building (Recognized) because of its historical associations and architectural and environmental values.

Historical value:
The John Pearse House is associated with the 19th-century development of Ontario’s agricultural frontier, specifically the growth and prosperity of small family farming communities in the Rouge River Valley during the post-pioneer period of consolidation, which began around mid-century. The house illustrates the shift to more substantial dwellings that occurred during this period, as expanding family farms across southern Ontario acquired a character of permanence and stability. It also reflects the wealth generated by the lumber industry that flourished in the region at this time. It is one of the earliest and best examples of a builder-owner fieldstone residence in the Rouge River Valley, notable for its size, refinement, and accompanying stone coach house.

Architectural value:
Distinguished by its size, masonry, craftsmanship, Georgian style, regionally rare I-House design, and accompanying stone coach house, the John Pearse House is an exemplar of builder-owner fieldstone homes in the region. The masonry, executed in the Scottish Aberdeen bond style, and the slate-clad hip roof both demonstrate a high level of craft, while the simple massing, formal and compositional symmetry, and austere details complement the stone construction, creating an aesthetic of balanced stateliness. The dwelling’s design also harmonizes with that of the coach house. The exterior features of a post-settlement-period I-House have been preserved, as well as the linear hall-and-parlour ground-floor plan. John Pearse, a stonemason by trade, built several stone houses in the Hillside area and his residence is one of the finer examples of his work.

Environmental value:
The John Pearse House is located in the historic hamlet of Hillside, a rural-suburban area in northeast Scarborough. The house is set well back from the main road, on a site that is today heavily treed and shielded from view. It shares the site with the original stone coach house, but the farm’s stone barn was lost to fire in 1915, altering the site’s legibility as a historic farmstead. While the introduction of railway and hydro corridors and the gradual re-naturalization of the area have modified the surrounding agrarian landscape, the house is compatible with Hillside’s many one- and one-and-a-half storey late-19th- and early-20th-century houses. It is deemed a significant built heritage resource for the Scarborough community, having been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, and represents an important period in the development of Hillside.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the John Pearse House should be respected:

The building’s vernacular, Georgian-style aesthetic, as expressed by its: formal and compositional symmetry, including identical front and rear elevations; three-foot-thick fieldstone walls laid in Aberdeen bond with large stone quoins; low-pitched hipped roof clad in slate shingles with three brick chimneys; vertical rectangular openings with stone voussoirs and keystones; single-hung 6/6 windows and louvred wooden shutters; door surrounds with rectangular, multi-paned transoms and sidelights; second-storey, double-pile Georgian plan; interior wood window trim, wood flooring in the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms, and mantle surrounding the kitchen fireplace; rubble-stone foundation and robust interior wood framing; and brick oven set in the base of the south chimney and well in the southwest corner of the basement.

The building’s I-House design, as evidenced by its: simple, block-like form, two-storey height, and rectangular footprint, one room deep and two rooms wide, with a linear ground-floor hall-and-parlour plan; symmetrical 3-bay façade with central entrance; and blank side elevations.

The building’s spatial relationship to the John Pearse Coach House, as achieved by: the staggered alignment of the house to the coach house, which both sit diagonally on the site, run parallel, and face one another.

The architectural continuity between the John Pearse House and John Pearse Coach House, as achieved by: the similarity of their Georgian-style aesthetic, shallow rectangular footprint, box-like forms, two-storey height, rubble stone foundation, Aberdeen bond masonry construction, and slate roofing materials.

Heritage Character Statement

Disclaimer - The heritage character statement was developed by FHBRO to explain the reasons for the designation of a federal heritage building and what it is about the building that makes it significant (the heritage character). It is a key reference document for anyone involved in planning interventions to federal heritage buildings and is used by FHBRO in their review of interventions.

Heritage Value
The John Pearse House is a federal heritage building (Recognized) because of its historical associations and architectural and environmental values.

Historical value:
The John Pearse House is associated with the 19th-century development of Ontario’s agricultural frontier, specifically the growth and prosperity of small family farming communities in the Rouge River Valley during the post-pioneer period of consolidation, which began around mid-century. The house illustrates the shift to more substantial dwellings that occurred during this period, as expanding family farms across southern Ontario acquired a character of permanence and stability. It also reflects the wealth generated by the lumber industry that flourished in the region at this time. It is one of the earliest and best examples of a builder-owner fieldstone residence in the Rouge River Valley, notable for its size, refinement, and accompanying stone coach house.

Architectural value:
Distinguished by its size, masonry, craftsmanship, Georgian style, regionally rare I-House design, and accompanying stone coach house, the John Pearse House is an exemplar of builder-owner fieldstone homes in the region. The masonry, executed in the Scottish Aberdeen bond style, and the slate-clad hip roof both demonstrate a high level of craft, while the simple massing, formal and compositional symmetry, and austere details complement the stone construction, creating an aesthetic of balanced stateliness. The dwelling’s design also harmonizes with that of the coach house. The exterior features of a post-settlement-period I-House have been preserved, as well as the linear hall-and-parlour ground-floor plan. John Pearse, a stonemason by trade, built several stone houses in the Hillside area and his residence is one of the finer examples of his work.

Environmental value:
The John Pearse House is located in the historic hamlet of Hillside, a rural-suburban area in northeast Scarborough. The house is set well back from the main road, on a site that is today heavily treed and shielded from view. It shares the site with the original stone coach house, but the farm’s stone barn was lost to fire in 1915, altering the site’s legibility as a historic farmstead. While the introduction of railway and hydro corridors and the gradual re-naturalization of the area have modified the surrounding agrarian landscape, the house is compatible with Hillside’s many one- and one-and-a-half storey late-19th- and early-20th-century houses. It is deemed a significant built heritage resource for the Scarborough community, having been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, and represents an important period in the development of Hillside.

Character-Defining Elements
The following character-defining elements of the John Pearse House should be respected:

The building’s vernacular, Georgian-style aesthetic, as expressed by its:
- formal and compositional symmetry, including identical front and rear elevations;
- three-foot-thick fieldstone walls laid in Aberdeen bond with large stone quoins;
- low-pitched hipped roof clad in slate shingles with three brick chimneys;
- vertical rectangular openings with stone voussoirs and keystones;
- single-hung 6/6 windows and louvred wooden shutters;
- door surrounds with rectangular, multi-paned transoms and sidelights;
- second-storey, double-pile Georgian plan;
- interior wood window trim, wood flooring in the kitchen and upstairs bedrooms, and mantle surrounding the kitchen fireplace;
- rubble-stone foundation and robust interior wood framing; and
- brick oven set in the base of the south chimney and well in the southwest corner of the basement.

The building’s I-House design, as evidenced by its:
- simple, block-like form, two-storey height, and rectangular footprint, one room deep and two rooms wide, with a linear ground-floor hall-and-parlour plan;
- symmetrical 3-bay façade with central entrance; and
- blank side elevations.

The building’s spatial relationship to the John Pearse Coach House, as achieved by:
- the staggered alignment of the house to the coach house, which both sit diagonally on the site, run parallel, and face one another.

The architectural continuity between the John Pearse House and John Pearse Coach House, as achieved by:
- the similarity of their Georgian-style aesthetic, shallow rectangular footprint, box-like forms, two-storey height, rubble stone foundation, Aberdeen bond masonry construction, and slate roofing materials.

For guidance on interventions, please refer to the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. For further information, contact the FHRO.

[March 2025]