• T-shaped plan and 1 ½ storey form
• fieldstone foundation
• pressed metal siding
• 2 over 2 wood windows, wood frames, and projecting wood lugsills
• gable roof with wood fascias, soffits and frieze
• front gable
• gable roofed wall dormer

Historical Attributes

The James D. Harrington House is a rare example of a vernacular building where the identity of the builder and an exact date of construction are known. According to the records of the Harrington Planing Mill in Unionville, the house was constructed in 1874.

The house stands on part of Lot 18, Concession 8, which was originally patented by Henry Green in 1801. In 1813, the 200 acre lot was sold to Peter Degeer, who split the property into east and west halves in 1819. John Miller purchased the west 100 acres, and Jacob Miller Sr. purchased the east 100 acres. Jacob and Phoebe (Gould) Miller, natives of Erie County New York, settled on Lots 21 and 22, Concession 9, in 1796. The family were members of the Ninth Line Baptist Church, now located at the Markham District Historical Museum. The John Miller who purchased the west half of Lot 18 was one oftheir 16 children.

Jacob Miller Sr. sold the west 50 acres of his property to William Anderson in 1840, and sold the east 50 acres (the subject property) to another son, Elijah Miller, in 1852. A right-of way giving access to the interior Anderson parcel passed through the 50 acres fronting on the 9% Line. Elijah did not reside on the property. According to Township directories, in 1850-51 he lived on Lot 19, Concession 7. In 1855, the Miller property holdings were increased by 40 acres with the purchase of two 20 acre parcels of Lot 19, the next Township lot to the north.

Elijah Miller sold his combined properties in Lots 18 and 19 to James D. Harrington in 1856. Originally English and described in one source as United Empire Loyalists, the Harrington family emigrated from Cleveland, Ohio in the spring of 1804. James D. Harrington's grandfather, Abraham, set out for Markham with his parents, his wife, Roxianna, and their first child, Reuben. In the same year as their arrival in Markham Township, Abraham and Roxianna Harrington purchased the east half of Lot 3, Concession 7, and established the family homestead where their 12 children were raised.

James Darius Harrington (1830 -1904) was the second son of Reuben and Sarah (Palmer) Harrington. He married Catharine Ann Burke (1826-1907) in 1850 and their family included 11 children. For the first few years of their marriage, James and Catharine lived on the property of Reuben and Sarah Harrington, the east half of Lot 1, Concession 6. By the time of Mitchell’s Directory of 1866, the family had moved to the subject property.

The James and Catharine Harrington family were of the Church of England denomination, and James’ occupation was listed in the census returns and directories as “farmer.” His cousin Robert operated and later owned the Unionville Planing Mill. In this family context, it is interesting that Robert Harrington’s account book for the year 1874 makes note of a “house for James D. Harrington - $725.” Based on this entry and others, it is evident that Robert Harrington’s business included building construction in addition to supplying lumber, doors, windows, trim and other architectural materials to the building trade. An article from the January 12, 1967 issue of the Economist and Sun describes Robert Harrington’s career as a builder, listing several of the local houses he constructed in the 1870s and also stating that Robert and his son Delos built many schools and churches.

Since the Harringtons were residing on this property in 1866, they must have occupied an earlier house prior to the construction of the existing dwelling in 1874. Not long before the building of the new house, it seems likely that the James Harrington was experiencing some type of family crisis, since in 1870-71 the farm was sold to George H. Burke of Pickering (presumably a relative of Catharine Ann (Burke) Harrington) for the sum of $100, then was sold back to James Harrington for the same price in 1872.

Architectural Attributes

The Harrington House is a one and a half storey, frame dwelling with a T-shaped plan. It is located on its original fieldstone foundation, and is oriented to face the east. The house is sided in painted pressed metal panels that imitate rock-faced ashlar stone block. The corners are trimmed with metal “quoins” in a different pattern. It is thought that the original exterior cladding was some type of wood siding. In the south facing ell, there is a small enclosedporch that appears to be a later addition to the original house.

The building has a medium pitched cross gabled roof with closed, projecting eaves. No historic chimneys remain, but an old photograph indicates that there were once corbelled gable end chimneys at either end of the main block. On the front or east slope of the main roof is a steeply pitched centre gable containing a flat-headed 2 over 2 window. The roof-wall junction is decorated with a deep frieze board. On the south slope of the roof of the rear wing is a gable-roofed wall dormer that once contained a door or window.

The house has a 3-bay front with a centre door. Windows on the ground floor level are larger in proportion to those of the second floor. The window openings on the second floor are vertically aligned with those on the ground floor. The glazing pattern of the original windows is 2 over 2, with plain wood surrounds and projecting wood lugsills. All openings are flat-headed.

Stylistic Analysis

The Harrington House is a typical example of an Ontario Classic farmhouse, a common vernacular house form in Ontario from the mid 19th century to circa 1900. Features generally associated with this style of dwelling include a one and a half storey height, T-shaped plan, centre gable, and a Georgian sense of symmetry. Many examples have pointed arched or round-headed windows in the front gable and have gables decorated with bargeboards. Full-width verandahs are also commonly seen on the front of Ontario Classic farmhouses, and typically, verandahs are also located within the ells formed by the rear kitchen wing or “tail.”

In the case of the Harrington House, 20th century alterations have probably removed any decorative exterior woodwork that once formed part of the original design. Based on the width of the remaining frieze, it appears as though bargeboards once existed in the front gable. It is likely that verandahs formerly existed on the front wall and within the ells, but evidence of these has been covered up by the existing siding. It is this siding, however, that sets this building apart from other remaining examples of the style in the Town of Markham.

The pressed metal faux stone is a type of architectural treatment that was popular in the first decades of the 20th century. It was a maintenance solution and ready means of updating older buildings that was the forerunner of the later insulbrick, aluminium and vinyl sidings that came after it. A local manufacturer of this material was The Pedlar People Limited of Oshawa. In addition to metal siding, they manufactured the ornamental pressed metal ceilings seen in numerous stores, schools and other public buildings of the period. The Harrington House is the only example of this type of pressed metal siding remaining in Markham.

A photograph dating from about 1920 shows this house with its metal siding and with an Edwardian Classical porch. On the architrave of the porch are the words “Glen Dale,” which must have been the name of the farm at that time.

Contextual Attributes

The Harrington House stands on its original site, but within a rural landscape undergoing the process of urbanization. Its relationship to 9th Line has been changed somewhat due to recent road realignment. Ultimately, the house will be a remnant of the area’s rural past, integrated with new development near the eastern limits of a large residential subdivision.

In this context, the house is a tangible reminder of the Harrington’s family’s residence in the community and a known product of Robert Harrington’s career as a local builder and supplier of architectural components. The pressed metal siding remains as an artefact of a technical innovation of the early 20th century.