On the grounds of the house, County Road 2, at the western approach to Grafton. Barnham House Museum
Commemoration
Provincial
A superb example of a prosperous Upper Canadian home, this elegant classical building was erected about 1819. Though the interior has been modified several times since, the façade remains essentially unaltered. In the first historic house restoration undertaken in the province, the structure was refurbished by the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario in 1940. Since 1982 its continued preservation has been entrusted to the Ontario Heritage Foundation.
National
Build ca. 1820 for Colonel Eliakim Barnum, an American emigrant, this timber-framed house is recognized as an outstanding example of Neoclassic domestic architecture in Canada. While retaining a Palladian composition of centre block and wings, the house expresses the neoclassic mode in the temple facade of the principal building, the dominant pediment and the smooth wall surfaces relieved by blind arcading. The pedimented, pilastered doors, the enriched cornices and the tympanum fan are Neoclassic decorative motifs executed here with a delicacy and linearity peculiar to wood.
Background
The Architectural Conservancy of Ontario monitors historic buildings in the province and lobbies the provincial government to protect and restore them. It was founded in 1933 to help save Barnum House.
Ontario Heritage Trust owns Barnum House and other historical properties. Its mandate is to conserve and interpret Ontario’s history.
These organizations show how the sense of community history has advanced from just a local concern to one of provincial and national importance.