Aurora Heritage Buildings
The Bowman House - 55 Metcalfe Street
Photo: 2003
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Date Built: circa 1878 |
Style: Ontario House. |
Design: 1 3/4 storey |
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Designation: AHC Plaque (1994) |
Legal desc.: Plan 68 Lot 8. |
Municipal Zoning: R2 (Det'd 2nd den.) |
John Mosley sold vacant lot 8 on January 6th, 1871 for $200, to George Harrison. He then built the house and eventually sold the property to Milton E. Cummer on December 17th, 1887.
In due course, Thomas Morsley purchased the house in 1905. Subsequently, it has been occupied by Mrs. Merle Bowman (his daughter) and other Bowman descendants.
When this house was built, its main entrance was centrally located, with a detailed low-hipped roofed porch supported by squared posts with decorative brackets. The main entrance has been relocated to the east end in order to create a main interior hallway.
The stairway to the second-storey was built in the east end of the house, giving the house an asymmetrical interior plan. It had been discreetly hidden behind a door. When the main entrance was relocated and the hallway established, this stairway door was removed.
The two windows in each side wall are vertically offset from one another. The ground-floor windows are centrally located, while the second-storey window of the east elevation is located at the south end of the wall and that of the west elevation .. at the north end of the wall.
Over time, a kitchen was added to the back of the house, an open porch on the east side was rebuilt into a sunroom and the house's yellow-buff brick was painted white.
Updated 18/11/04 - BBD
