IN THE MATTER OF THE ONTARIO
HERITAGE ACT
R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER O.18 AND
CITY OF TORONTO, PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
6278 KINGSTON ROAD
NOTICE OF INTENTION TO DESIGNATE
THE PROPERTY
TAKE NOTICE that Council for the
City of Toronto intends to designate the property, including the lands, buildings
and structures thereon known municipally as 6278 Kingston Road under Part IV,
Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.O.18, as amended, as a
property of cultural heritage value or interest.
Reasons for Designation
The property at 6278 Kingston Road is worthy of
designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its
cultural heritage value and meets Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria for
municipal designation.
Description
The subject property at 6278 Kingston Road is
located on the north side of Kingston Road, west of Meadowvale Road, within the
Highland Creek neighbourhood of Scarborough. Constructed in the mid-nineteenth
century, the property contains a single-storey vernacular Ontario Cottage style
house, with a front porch featuring a gable dormer added in 2002. The subject
property has served as a single-family residence from its period of
construction to the present day and was home to the Morrish family from 1855 until
1984. The subject property, which was included on the City of Toronto's
Heritage Register on September 27, 2006, is adjacent to the Part IV designated
W.J. Morrish General Store at 6282 Kingston Road.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value
Design and Physical Value
The property at 6278 Kingston Road has design
and physical value as it is a representative example of the vernacular Ontario
Cottage style within the former village of Highland Creek. The Ontario Cottage
style was a Regency-inspired vernacular style prevalent throughout Southern
Ontario in the nineteenth century. Features of the style represented at 6278
Kingston Road include its single-storey form, the side-gable roof, and the
symmetrical front façade comprising a single door flanked by windows. The cladding
(wood board) has been altered but is appropriate for the style, along with the
wood window and door trim work.
Historical and Associative Value
The property at 6278 Kingston Road has
historical and associative value owing to its direct associations with the
Morrish family of Highland Creek and Scarborough, who through multiple
generations have had a lasting impact on the development of the local
community. John Morrish immigrated to Scarborough Township from Ohio in 1855,
settling in Scarborough Township where subsequent generations of the family
would operate the Morrish General Store out of the neighbouring property at
6282 Kingston Road. Members of the Morrish family would in subsequent
generations expand into surrounding communities and become prominent figures in
local businesses and politics. Decedents of John Morrish owned the subject
property at 6278 Kingston Road and the neighbouring store at 6282 Kingston Road
into the 1980s and were well-known figures within the community.
Contextual Value
Contextually, the property at 6278 Kingston Road
is physically, functionally, and visually linked to the adjacent property at
6282 Kingston Road, collectively forming a significant historical tie to
Highland Creek and Scarborough's agricultural past. The property’s placement on
Kingston Road, the primary east-west corridor between Toronto and eastern
settlements, is integrally connected to its history and its role as the
residence for shopkeepers at the adjacent Morrish General Store, a role it
served through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The subject property
remains visually linked through its siting and placement to the adjacent
property at 6282 Kingston Road, creating a recognizable collection of historic
properties at the corner of Kingston Road and Meadowvale Road.
Heritage Attributes
Design and Physical Value
Attributes that contribute to 6278 Kingston Road
being a representative example of the vernacular Ontario Cottage style:
·
The scale, form, and
massing of the subject property, which contains a single-storey rectangular
house form building with rear extension and side-gable roof
·
The placement,
setback, and orientation of the subject property, which is set-back from the
sidewalk on Kingston Road and the side property lines
·
The low-pitched side
gable roof, with a brick chimney rising from the west façade of the house and
protruding above the roof gable ridgeline
·
The symmetrical
arrangement of the primary (south) façade and pattern of its two segmental
arched window openings (two-over-two configuration) on either side of a
centered single front door
·
The asymmetrical
arrangement and pattern of the segmental arched windows on the east and west
facades, and the deep eaves
* The front porch addition and cross-gable roof
with round window are not identified as heritage attributes.
Contextual Value
Attributes that contribute to 6278 Kingston Road
being visually, functionally, and historically linked to its surroundings:
·
The placement,
set-back and orientation of the structure on the north side of Kingston Road
west of Meadowvale Road
·
The single-storey
scale of the primary (south) facade and the visible portions of the secondary
(east and west) facades
·
The placement in
relation to the adjacent Part IV-designated property at 6282 Kingston Road
(W.J. Morrish General Store), which together create an important connection to
the early settlement history of the Highland Creek community
Notice of Objection to the Notice of Intention to Designate
Notice of an objection to the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property may be served on the City Clerk, Attention:
Registrar Secretariat, City Clerk's Office, Toronto City Hall, 2nd Floor West,
100 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2.; Email: RegistrarCCO@toronto.ca within thirty (30) days
of August 4, 2026, which is September 3, 2026. The notice of objection to the
Notice of Intention to Designate the Property must set out the reason(s) for
the objection and all relevant facts.
Getting Additional Information:
Further information in respect of the Notice of
Intention to Designate the Property is available from the City of Toronto at:
https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2026.PH32.17.
Dated at the City of Toronto on August 4, 2026.
John D. Elvidge
City Clerk