Description of Historic Place

The Potting Shed, also known as Building 77, is located within the core area of the Central Experimental Farm (CEF) National Historic Site of Canada in Ottawa. The building is of small scale and is clad in board and batten siding. Topped by a cross-gable roof, the building’s other decorative features include, shingled and flared walls on the second storey, prominent half-timbering on the gable ends and casement windows. The designation is confined to the footprint of the building.

Heritage Value

The Potting Shed is a Recognized Federal Heritage Building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental value.

Historical Value
The Potting Shed is associated with the Department of Agriculture and the Central Experimental Farm’s role in promoting agricultural reform in the 19th century. It also illustrates the model farm role originally assumed by the CEF. Relocated within the core area of the farm, it is associated with the changing role of the CEF and the Department of Agriculture’s decision to create a distinctive cultural landscape with an architectural theme among the early farm buildings.

Architectural Value
The Potting Shed is valued for its good aesthetic design. Its scale, proportions, domestic form and decorative treatment conformed to late 19th-century ideas about the design of country estates, popularized in pattern books and agricultural publications. A good functional design, the building was built as a stable for the CEF director but also served as a model stable for Ontario farmers. Its very good materials and craftsmanship are evidenced in the decorative treatment that was borrowed directly from the Director’s Residence, one of Canada’s grandest Queen Anne Revival style homes, and includes the board and batten siding, shingled and flared walls on the second storey, prominent half-timbered gables and casement windows.

Environmental Value
The Potting Shed reinforces the picturesque character of its setting at the experimental farm. The building is familiar to visitors and employees of the farm.

Sources: Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office, NOTES/ SCR 97-035; Building #77, (Potting Shed), Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario, Heritage Character Statement, 97-035.

Character-Defining Elements

The following character-defining elements of the Potting Shed should be respected.

Its good aesthetic design, good functional design and very good materials and craftsmanship, for example: the scale, proportions and form; the vertical board-and-batten siding and half-timbering on the gable ends; the shingled flared apron on the second floor; the cross-gable, cedar shingled roof; the casement windows; the interior application of vertical tongue-and-groove boarding, and the projecting gable which covers the hayloft doors at the attic storey.

The manner in which the Potting Shed reinforces the picturesque character of its landscaped setting at the farm and is a familiar building, as evidenced by: the picturesque aspects of its design and materials, which contribute to its landscaped surroundings at the Central Experimental Farm its importance as part of a group of buildings located within the core area of the farm, making it a familiar building to visitors and employees.

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.

Building #77 was constructed in 1889-90 as a stable for the Central Experimental Farm (CEF) Director's Residence (demolished). It was designed by the federal Department of Public Works. The building was moved to its current location within the CEF in 1936 and placed on a new foundation, above grade. Changes to the structure have included the replacement of wide stable doors by narrower doors and the placement of the structure above grade on a new foundation. Building #77 is currently used as an office for the grounds crew. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is the custodian. The structure is a Level 1 cultural resource located within the core of the Central Experimental Farm National Historic Site.

Reasons for Designation

Building #77 has been designated 'Recognized' because of its historical, architectural, and environmental significance:

Building #77 is closely associated with two nationally significant themes: the Department of Agriculture's role in promoting agricultural reform in the 19th century and the Central Experimental Farm's distinctive cultural landscape. Relocated within the core area of the farm, its design, function and history demonstrate the changing role of the Central Experimental Farm and the Department of Agriculture's decision to create a distinctive architectural theme among early farm buildings.

Building #77 was built as a stable for the CEF director, but it also served a broader purpose as a model stable for the family of a well-to-do Ontario farmer. In its scale, proportions, domestic form and decorative treatment it conformed to contemporary ideas about the design of country estates popularized in pattern books and the agricultural press. Its decorative treatment was borrowed directly from the Director's Residence, one of Canada's grandest Queen Anne Revival Style homes. Building #77's decorative elements include: board and batten siding, shingled and flared walls on the second storey, prominent half-timbered gables, and casement windows.

Building #77 also reinforced the Picturesque composition of the CEF. It serves as an important reminder that the Central Experimental Farm history reaches back into the 19th century and that there is a strong unity in the design among all of the early Farm buildings.

Character-defining elements

The heritage character of Building #77 resides in the following character-defining elements:

- Building #77 illustrates the Department of Agriculture's role in promoting agricultural reform and the creation of a distinctive cultural landscape at the CEF in fulfillment of that role. As a model stable for Ontario farmers, Building #77 illustrates the model farm role originally assumed by the CEF.

- The residential scale and decorative treatment of Building #77 harmonized with the design of the former Director's Residence. Important exterior decorative elements of Building #77 include: the shingled flared apron of the second floor; the cedar shingled roof; the casement windows; half-timbering on the gable ends; the cross-gabled roof; and the vertical board-and-batten siding. Important functional elements which reflect the building's original use as a stable include the interior application of vertical tongue-and-groove boarding for hygienic purposes, and a projecting gable which covers the hayloft doors on the attic storey.

- Building #77 reinforces the Picturesque composition of the CEF.

All maintenance and repair work, as well as future interventions, should aim to respect these character-defining elements.