The Wallace House

Built c.1845 by Burwell Griffin, this fine stone residence was once a farm house on property that extended northwards to Parkside Drive and from Hamilton to Mill Street. Originally designed to face Dundas Street, the lane which led to this house later became the well travelled village road known as Main Street. One of the earliest buildings in the village, the land on which the Wallace house sits passed through a succession of owners before it was sold in 1846 to William Magill. Magill is regarded as the builder as its late Georgian and Neo-Classical features date c. 1840-1850, and its position faces Dundas Street and not the toll road built in 1853 (present day Main Street). Its Salt Box shape is particulary interesting as it is a design commonly seen in New England but rarely seen in this area of Ontario, especially as a feature of a stone construction. In 1853 the property was sold to Hugh Creen, described in the 1865 Wentworth County District as a “gentleman”. Hugh Creen was the father of John Creen, Proprietor of the Upper Mill Site in Waterdown in the 1860’s. In 1951 the house was purchased by renowned architect and restoration expert Arthur Wallace and his wife.