BYLAW - Heritage Designation 15074 Yonge St Poplar Villa - 20200929 - 628120The Corporation of the Town of Aurora
By-law Number 6281-20
Being a By-law to designate a property to be of cultural heritage value
or interest (15074 Yonge Street "Poplar Villa").
Whereas under subsection 29(1 ) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.0. 1990, c. 0.18,
as amended, the council of a municipality may, by by-law, designate a property
within the municipality to be of cultural heritage value or interest;
And whereas on July 14, 2020, the Council of The Corporation of the Town of
Aurora (the "Town") approved the recommendations contained in Report No.
PDS20-028, to designate the property municipally known as 15074 Yonge Street, as
described on the attached Schedule "A" (the "Property") to be of cultural heritage
value or interest;
And whereas the Town Clerk caused notice of the intention to designate the
Property to be served on the owner of the Property and the Ontario Heritage Trust
and published in a newspaper having general circulation in the municipality;
And whereas there were no objections to the proposed designation of the Property
served on the Town;
And whereas the Council of the Town deems it necessary and expedient to enact a
by-law to designate the Property to be of cultural heritage value or interest;
Now therefore the Council of The Corporation of the Town of Aurora hereby enacts
as follows:
1.The Property, as described on the attached Schedule "A", be and is hereby
designated to be of cultural heritage value or interest as prescribed by the
Ontario Heritage Act.
2.A statement explaining the cultural heritage value or interest of the Property
and a description of the heritage attributes of the Property are set out on the
attached Schedule "B".
3.The Town Clerk shall serve a copy of this by-law on the owner of the Property
and the Ontario Heritage Trust and publish notice of this by-law in a
newspaper having general circulation in the municipality.
4.The Town Solicitor shall register against the Property in the proper Land
Registry Office, a copy of this by-law including an Affidavit of the Town Clerk
respecting the giving of notice referenced herein to be attached to and
forming part of this by-law.
Enacted by Town of Aurora Council this 29'h day of September, 2020.
o Mrakas, Mayor
Michael de Rond, Town Clerk
By-law Number 628'l-20 Page 2 of 4
Schedule "A"
Description of Property
All and singular those certain parcels or tracts of land and premises situate, lying and
being in the Town of Aurora, in the Regional Municipality of York, municipally known as
15074 Yonge Street Street, and being composed of Lot 1, 2 and 3, Plan 39, Town of
Aurora, Regional Municipality of York, being all of PIN 03653-0079 (LT) including the
primary building thereon.
By-law Number 6281-20 Page 3 of 4
Schedule "B"
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest
The building at I 5074 Yonge Street, at one time known as "Poplar Villa" and then later
as "Chateau," was constructed in 19'12. The building has cultural heritage design value
as a fine example of the Queen Ann Revival Style. The traits that are exemplified in this
house are its asymmetrical massing with multiple surfaces, its multiple rooflines, its
windows of varying types, and its wrap-around verandah with round columns. The
building is three storeys in height with a cottage roof punctuated by gable end dormers
and a turret. The one storey wrap-around porch has a gable over the front entry stairs
and a dome roof structure at the corner.
The building has physical value as a showcase for the use of concrete and in particular
molded concrete blocks that were prevalent between 1890 and 1930 in a residential
construction. There are at minimum five different types of molded concrete block used
in the building as well as various cast and poured in place concrete elements. The North
American Concrete Block and Tile Company was located in nearby Gormley, Ontario,
and as a result there are other examples of molded concrete blocks used for residential
construction in the area; however the use of molded concrete blocks in an elegantly
designed house for an affluent individual or family is very rare.
The building has contextual value is supporting the character oT the "Old Town" of
Aurora, and in particular the historical neighborhood dating to the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century that extends from Tyler Street at the north to Ransom Street at
the South and from the west side of Yonge Street to the natural feature midblock at the
east. This building is one of the grander if not the grandest heritage building of the
neighborhood and serves as a landmark within it. Sitting high over Yonge Street on a
park-like lot it is linked to the importance of Yonge Street as the main street of historic
Aurora.
Description of Heritage Attributes
Important to the preservation of the property are the original key attributes that express its
value, which include the following exterior elements:
* The scale, form, height and massing of the building, including the rounded
section on the southeast corner, on a rectangular-shaped lot;
* The division of the building into horizontal planes, rock faced masonry, smooth
face masonry, cinder blocks, low roofing bands, and stucco;
* A showcase of different molded cement blocks and cast cement elements;
* The wrap-around verandah with:
Rock face concrete foundations and piers supporting round molded
concrete columns;
Smooth face molded concrete block railing lattice capped with concrete
copping;
By-law Number 6281-20 Page 4 of 4
Poured concrete flooring and steps (2) leading up to the verandah;
Deep wooden roof wrap around support beam;
Tongue and groove soffit of lower roof and gable end;
"Band shell" feature with doomed roof;
* The medium pitched, hip roof with a conical roof in the southeast corner, all clad
in asphalt singles and having with projecting eves, wood soffits with paired
dentils; the wide, gable rooted projection with its Palladian window on the east
elevation and the narrower gable roofed dormers with their Palladian windows
and soffits with dentils matching the rest of the roof on the north and south
elevations;
* Painted deep wood tongue and groove soffits, and paired wooden ornate
brackets of the upper roof;
* All window openings, on the south, east and north elevations, with concrete
lintels, slip sills and single glazed sash, horizontally aligned as one to four sash
per opening;
* Multiple window types: tall and short, paired and triple, rectangular, square,
square rotated, palJadium, gothic arched, boxed, and curved;
* Glazed wooden doors to the verandah - one double, one single;
* Cement brick chimneys (2);
* The large size equivalent to three village lots;
@ The vehicular access from the small lane to the rear;
* Views to the site from Yonge Street and from the site to the east and south;
* Lawns - south, east, and north with specie trees planted in a park-like manner;
* The pedestrian access from Yonge Street via two sets of concrete stairs and the
semicircular path of concrete pavers connecting the stairs to the front entry; and,
* The placement of the building footprint at the centre or the lot.