Stephanie Maks' Home Page

This page is about my home. I'm a new homeowner, though my house is all but new. It is a Century Home and it has given me an urge to learn about it's history, and the history of the downtown Brampton area. So, I'm doing research, trying to learn more. I don't know all the details yet but as I learn more, I'll put them here. I've done most of my research at the Brampton Archives, and would like to thank Diane and David for all their help.

In 1853, when the Village of Brampton was incorporated, the land was owned by John Scott, one of the original European settlers in this area.

Twenty years later, Brampton became a town in 1873. In 1973 there were celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the township. Recently I found in my basement a commemorative sign (see left), issued by the Brampton Real Estate Board, designating the house as a Century Home, so it was definately built by 1873.

Building permits didn't come into common use in this area until after World War II, so it's rather difficult to figure out an exact date for when the house was built. So far I have narrowed it down to some time between 1859 and 1869.

Tremaine's Map of County Peel, dated 1859, does not show a house on the property. The map carries a comment that it is based on an official survey; it might be based on the survey map of January 1857 by Brismtow & Fitzgerald Surveyors. This map was recovered by and has been restored by the Brampton Historical Society.

Interestingly, on the Tremaine map there are a few factories marked around the corner on the larger street. My house is in the style of a Regency Cottage, it is one of the smaller homes on its street, and is also older than many of its neighbors. These facts lead to speculation that the house was built by or for a factor worker. In later years, the factories were gone and the area became a little more affluent, leading to the larger homes being built in the area.

Regency Cottages are known for a few features. First, the front of the house is symetrical with the door in the centre. Second, there is just one floor, like a bungalow. Third is the Hip roof - that is, the roof slopes on all four sides, with a point in the centre. As you can see in the above picture, my home exhibits these features. One thing I found out was, unusual for the era and area, this is not a wood frame house, but is solid brick construction.

There is an addition on the back of the house, a new area that was added in the 1940s or 1950s. It is made of concrete block, and holds the kitchen and laundry room. Interestingly, a city property map of the 1920s showed the addition already there, but at that time its construction was of wood and plaster. It seems that the first addition was pulled out and replaced with a new one. This new area contains the current kitchen, and was likely a kitchen or 'summer kitchen' in the past also.

I've been able to compile a complete list of property ownership, from the time the Town of Brampton was incorporated in 1853:

After all this, I still haven't found an actual construction date for the house. I have come up with a few dead ends, but I will continue looking.

I am still confident about my range from 1860 to 1869, for the following reasons: The Tremaine map shows no structure as of 1859 (though as mentioned above, that may be drawing on the 1857 survey) so that tells me the house can't have been there in 1859. The property ownership records the first time a mortgage was issued for the land in it's existing plot was in September 1869. I am making a bit of an assumption here, which is that when Mr. Crawford bought the property there was a house on it to be mortgaged. Therefore, 1860 - 1869 is my range.

If I can find out who owned the factories around the corner on Main St., I think that will help me narrow down the construction even more. I'll be re-reading the available records for those periods again to see what I can find.