Ruthven Park is a National Historic Site created around one of Canada’s finest Greek Revival style mansions and 1478 acres on the Grand River. David Thompson settled on the site in 1832 and established himself as a successful businessman. Starting in 1845 he developed Ruthven Park into a significant family estate, including a Picturesque landscape around the house.

The primary residence, known as the Mansion, is believed to have been designed by the American architect John Latshaw. The site also contains significant outbuildings, clustered around the Mansion, scattered farm buildings - some now ruined - and two cemeteries.

The property was bequeathed to the Grand River Land Trust in 1994 after 5 generations in the family’s ownership. In 1996 ERA Architects was engaged as the heritage architectural consultant in a multi-disciplinary team to develop a comprehensive conservation management plan for the property. Subsequently, ERA was retained as the heritage consultant to undertake conservation work on the site, under a cost-share agreement with Parks Canada.

Despite a large family archive, there was limited historical information about the buildings and changes made to them. Repairs to leaky roofs, gutters, downpipes and masonry were urgently needed, and so the decision was made to proceed with the exterior fabric, leaving the interior until further research could be undertaken.

The conservation of core buildings was undertaken in six phases, over 7 years.

The Process: An Abbreviated Description of Select Phases of Work

Mansion Widow’s Walk and South Porch

The work mostly involved woodwork repair at the widow’s walk and south porch and quickly revealed how robustly Ruthven had been constructed. Where structural elements had failed, cased decorative work had often assumed a structural role. The work also revealed evidence of much change, such as 4-1/2” of porch deck boards representing three rebuilds and the adjacent kitchen roof, with 3 generations of metal roofs beneath worn asphalt shingles, including original tinned-steel Quebecois style shingles.

Drill Hall

The work to the 2-storey Drill Hall, which forms a rear wing of the Mansion, tackled severely deteriorated wood and masonry. Despite this, conservative stabilization methods were used rather than rebuilding in order to retain the character and historical patina of the buildings. This too became characteristic of the approach to the work wherever possible.

Mansion Portico and Stairs

The Doric, wood portico of the main entrance and pediment, in a remarkable state of preservation, was being supported on a heavily-frosted masonry base of rubblestone and ashlar veneer. The portico was temporarily supported and the base dismantled and rebuilt, including consolidating the crumbling core and relaying the ashlar, while disguising 2” of settlement where the portico tied into the mansion walls. The decorative portico columns were relieved of the structural load they had assumed by repairing the concealed interior posts and the wood elements refinished.

Mansion Masonry

The focus of the work here was the conservation of masonry above and below grade and protecting the foundations from damp.

Before the below-grade work could begin, selective archaeological investigation was required at this national historic site. The work included uncovering an exterior stair to a basement entrance to what is believed to have been Thompson’s estate office. The archaeology revealed often subtle information about the buildings – in this case that the foundations had been constructed hand-over-hand, without excavation on the exterior.

The building is faced in fine ashlar masonry veneer, with squared rubblestone foundation walls. The masonry was in stable condition, but the ashlar needed almost total repointing. The foundations were repointed to match the existing raised ribbon profile, which the family had used although it may not be original.

Coach House

The final phase of work involved saving the Coach House from collapse and adaptively re-using it as a space for events and workshops. This work had been delayed by the very high cost and by the time work started, much of the roof had failed and significant parts of the heavy stone walls were unstable and shored.

Over fifty percent of the masonry walls were dismantled and rebuilt. The remainder were repaired and in one case was jacked back to plumb. The original windows, doors and much of the roof decking were rescued from the building, conserved and reinstalled. The roof structure was rebuilt and reshingled. Despite the extensive rebuilding, remarkably sufficient fabric survived that the building’s historical patina is still evident.

ERA Architects Inc.: Edwin Rowse, Michael McClelland, Ian Panabaker, Lindsay Reid and Daniel Chalykoff
Carl Bray and Associates: Carl Bray, Management Plan Coordinator and Museum Specialist
Historica Inc.: Christopher Andreae, Historian for cultural master plan
Historic Horizon Inc.: Heather Henderson, Archaeologist
Steven Otto: Historian (CAPHC retired)
Maltby and Associates: Sue Maltby, Conservator
Wendy Shearer, Landscape Architect Limited: Wendy Shearer
J.D. Strachan Construction Ltd.: Jim Strachan, heritage contractor for Phase 4

Jury Comments

This restoration has a ‘feel good’ quality that only comes out of a series of good, balanced decisions.

“You can just imagine the movie!”

Of all the submissions, this one stands out as the ‘best in show’.