ca. 1854 Cumberland & Storm: Proposed Alterations . . . to 'Lyndhurst' villa residence of F. Widder, Esq.

Among the first lots sold in the subdivision east of Garrison Creek were four purchased by Hon. Robert Jameson, the Attorney General. They were bounded by Ontario Terrace (later Front Street), Brock Street (Spadina) and Wellington Place, with a boundless view south over Lake Ontario. Jameson was married to the notoriously dyspeptic author Anna Jameson, and when he built a house on the property in 1836-7, it  was done to lure her to live with him in Toronto.  But two years later after she returned to Britain he found the estate a needless burden, so offered it for sale in 1842 when his job required him to move with the seat of government to Kingston. See a fuller account here.

The property was bought by Frederick Widder, Commissioner of the Canada Company, whose wife was the opposite of Mrs. Jameson: gregarious, hospitable, and socially ambitious. Hence, about 1854 they hired the architects Cumberland & Storm to make substantial additions to the house. This plan came  from that commission, and shows the hierarchy of uses accommodated in the outbuildings, from stables to a cow shed, hen house, gardener's toolroom, woodshed and privies. Lake Ontario is towards the top of the plan. Today the Globe and Mail is located on the site.

Click the map to view a full size version.

Proposed Alterations . . . to 'Lyndhurst' villa residence of F. Widder, Esq., ca. 1854
by Cumberland & Storm
Image courtesy Ontario Archives 4816, C11-106.

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