Tyrrell house just needs general maintenance
I found the comments about the state of the William Tyrrell home to be more than a bit disturbing ("Right now it's a sore eye; it's so ugly and dilapidated).
Considering that this comment is coming from the manager of the building, it's not only disturbing, it's down right irritating. The house has been used as a seniors residence for more than five years and in that time I can't say that I've noticed much attempt to repaint the wooden exterior nor do much to improve the landscaping of the property.
It is a structure in need of general maintenance and not a major refurbishing. If anything is dilapidated, it's the garage/carport.
As for the front porch, we at the Weston Historical Society already know the porch steps were at the end rather than in the middle, and this information has been passed along to the manager, along with copies of other photos and data.
Historic Horizon has simply confirmed what we already know.
As for when the porch was removed, the Weston Historical Society has not come across a specific date but it certainly survived past 1910. It is still visible in an aerial photo from September 1917. I can also add the porch was definitely gone by the time the home was converted into the St. Maria Fidelis Convent in autumn 1951 (having spoken to some of the nuns who used to reside at 64 King St. between 1951 and 1989).
While it would be nice to see a genuine attempt to restore the porch/veranda that used to grace the front of the Tyrrell home, I do hope it will be an accurate restoration and not a restoration done with artistic license.
Some months ago, when the Weston Historical Society was first asked to provide historical assistance, there was a good deal of talk about producing a porch based on archaeological conjecture rather that photographic evidence. Claims were made that the centre canopy of the porch was not original and therefore wouldn't be incorporated. This is a view based on arbitrary conjecture and not on existing plans or photographs.
Some of these photographs date back at least to 1870. If the centre section is an addition, it is an early addition and it is an architectural feature that appeared on at least one other Weston home of that vintage, owned by the Rowntree family.
A great deal of photographic material pertaining to the Tyrrell family exists in the Thomas Fisher Library and in other collections. In light of this I think the restoration should be based on what is known and not on speculation. I hope also that all this talk about restoring the front isn't being done to distract the public from the proposed addition on the house. The house is large enough as it is and it is a heritage building and has been recognized as such for decades.
Years ago the City of Toronto made a trade-off near the lakeshore that was supposed to result in the CN roundhouses being converted into a railway museum. Likewise a plaza was allowed to be opened just south of St. Philips Bridge under the condition that the Plank Road Company building be restored. In both cases, business got what they wanted but as for public interests? Well we're still waiting. In a similar vein, I hope that the promise of a 'restored' porch isn't simple window-dressing to fool the simple-minded.
Martin Proctor
Editor's note: Tyrrell is the correct spelling of the family name.
