Heritage property
2460 Old Bronte Rd
2460 Old Bronte Rd, Oakville, built c.1813-1870s, is designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act by Town of Oakville By-law 2025-031.
History
The Smith House is associated with the theme of 19th century village life in Palermo and with the Smith families, early settlers in Trafalgar Township. The property has direct associations with the historic village of Palermo, the oldest European settlement in present-day Oakville. Palermo was a significant stop along Dundas Street, the main route between Toronto and Hamilton, and the larger rural community depended on the village for its stagecoach stop, post office, inn, stores, schools, and churches. The Smith family owned the property for almost 90 years, building the original structure and expanding it throughout the 19th century. The property was granted by the Crown to Benjamin Smith, who likely built the original one-storey structure. It was later owned by his son-in-law Caleb Smith from 1860-1902, when the Gothic Revival and Italianate portions were built.
Heritage attributes
The Smith House is as an evolved 19th century village house with influences from the Gothic Revival and Italianate styles. The main portion of the house is believed to have been built in the 1850s and then expanded and renovated in the 1870s. The Gothic Revival style is evident in the structure’s steep roof, prominent centre gable, decorative bargeboard, and round and lancet windows in the gables. The front portico was designed in the Italianate style with a flat roof with projecting eaves, heavily bracketed cornice, and square and rectangular windows with rounded edges. The Smith House also includes a circa 1813 timber-frame structure located to the rear of the building, which would have been one of the earliest structures in Palermo. The original framing features hand-sawn and rough-sawn wood, post and beam notching, wooden pins, mortise and tenon joints, and wide ceiling and roof boards. The structure is a rare and early example of its kind in Oakville.
Criterion met under Ontario Regulation 9/06
The property has historical value or associative value because it has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community.
What the status means
Designated individually under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act by a Town by-law. Alterations to the heritage attributes and demolition need Town approval.
Sources
Sources
Town of Oakville
By-law 2025-031Town of Oakville
Heritage Properties (open data layer)Town of Oakville
Heritage Districts and Properties
The OakvilleIQ Brief
Heritage designations and district changes
What changes on the Town's heritage register, once a week.