268 Dundas Street, Horseman House



Facade of building prior to mid-2000s signage renovation.
 


A Google Street View image from July of 2009. Note revised signage.
 


A 2014 Google Street View image of Horseman House.
 


 

Significance

The building at 268 Dundas Street was first known as Horseman House, and was built in c.1888 for Edward Horseman. It housed drug sellers like Barkwell, Williams, Logan, Keays, and Anderson and Nelles. This is also the last wing of the former Metropolitan Hotel. After the Ontario Temperance Act of 1916 (retained by referendum after 1919), the Metropolitan Hotel became a Bank.

Former Owners or Tenants

  • 1888: Horseman House
  • Became western wing of Metropolitan Hotel (exact date unknown)
  • Prior to 1916, it housed the Anderson and Nelles Drug store (in present Scots' Corner Pub).
  • 1916 -1935: Became a bank
  • 1935 - 45: Bank of Montreal
  • 1950 - 60: Muirhead's Cafeteria
  • 1965 - 85: Shorthand Tavern Restaurant
  • 1985 - 1990: New Scotland Yard Restaurant
  • 1990 - present: The Scots Corner British Restaurant and Pub

Architectural Style

Horseman House was originally constructed in SECOND EMPIRE STYLE (1855-90) with essentially ITALIANATE features. The Second Empire Style (following Napoleon III's remodelling of Paris between 1852 and 1857) can easily be identified by the mansard roof (dual pitched hipped) with dormer windows on the steep lower slope; moulded cornices bound with lower roof slope both above and below; and decorative brackets present beneath eaves. The Italianate style retains symmetry and regularity, the use of Greek and Roman motifs, the use of round arches as door and window headings. Italianate buildings often invite striking plays of light and shade through the use of highly textured materials created by broad, bracketed eaves, elaborate cornices and a tower.

Street Number: 268 House or Building Name: Dundas Street Suffix: Street

268 Dundas Street, London, Ontario

Satellite view of 268 Dundas Street, London, ON


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