The Griffin Cottage

Much of Waterdown’s early growth was shaped by the pioneering Griffin family, namely Ebenezer Culver and his brother Absalom. Together they brought great entrepreneurial business skills which influenced the development of Waterdown. Although the cottage is on property that passed through the Griffin family there is no legal evidence to confirm that the family built this cottage or lived here. The name is due to the fact that the cottage was on the road that E.C. Griffin had built in front of his property (presently known as Griffin Street) to allow him easier access to his industrial site.

The cottage is the oldest structurally unaltered domestic dwelling in Waterdown. A brownish hue from the iron content of the local rubble stone of which it was constructed adds to the charm of this one-storey Regency cottage. A common feature of buildings constructed in the 1830s and 1840s is the central doorway with an elliptical transom and side lights. After Griffin’s death his property was sold to Thomas Dyke in 1849 for $200.