‘Beautiful’ historic home listed at $3.9M
Built in 1826, corner property is walking distance to NOTL downtown, features four bedrooms
Community: Niagara-on-the-Lake Price: $3.89 million
The 1826 original wood siding home sits on a 0.2-hectare corner lot in the historic Old Town district of Niagara-on-the-Lake. Blue shutters surround exterior windows, contrasting softly with the white colouring of the Colonial-style house.
From Prideaux and Victoria streets, it’s a short walk over to Queen Street, where restaurants and theatres line the downtown, and steps away from the Niagara River. It’s close to Niagara-on-the Lake Golf Club, the oldest course in North America, and nearby walking trails.
The property is in the midst of everything, yet quiet. Its antique door welcomes visitors into a “beautiful blend” of old mixed with contemporary, offering a feeling of comfort when walking into the four-bedroom home.
“You have this simply classic look but as soon as you open the front door, most people are gob smacked. It is opulence,” said Lolita Hale, sales representative with Royal LePage.
“Designer valances and window coverings, light fixtures, cabinetry, flooring. It’s just amazing. It has been done to the highest standard.”
The home features four bedrooms, and three and a half bathrooms, and flows throughout the main level. The formal living room extends into a more casual sitting area and a formal dining space, but it is the updated kitchen — featuring an original wood-burning fireplace — that sits in the centre of the home.
“You can access the kitchen from the back family room, the sunroom, the dining room, and I just feel like that is the gathering space with the huge centre island and this beautifully done kitchen, kind of a Nantucket style,” said Hale.
“It’s got a beautiful feel to it.” The history of 94 Prideaux St. extends back to 1801, when the lot was originally granted to Matthew Kemp. One year later it was sold to Andrew Heron, a Scottish immigrant and founding member of St. Andrew’s Church and the Niagara Library.
In its known history, Niagara-onthe-Lake Museum said, the corner lot was purchased by Benjamin Hughes, a baker and innkeeper, in 1821 for 100 pounds. He mortgaged the property to Heron. In 1826, the house was completed and put up for sale.
The museum said the house went through a series of owners, including William Porter, who used the property as a tavern and an inn. It stayed in the family of Thomas Burk — he was already the occupying innkeeper — for four generations, from 1854 until the 1920s, and became known as Burk House.
It was later purchased by dentist Frank E. Crysler and sold to a Mr. Hardison in 1925.
Through its nearly 200-year history, the house would see even more owners — it was used for a time as a dental surgery — each new owner coming in and remodelling the property.
That includes the current owners who Hale said have done extensive work since taking ownership to make it their own. That includes the exterior colours, which once featured yellow siding with black shutters.
“They revamped the kitchen, there’s heated flooring in the bathrooms, high-end vanities in the bath and various things they’ve sourced from different places,” she said.
“They’ve done a ton of landscaping in the back area, it’s just beautifully done.”
The house features original hardwood flooring, with three secondfloor and one main-floor bedrooms. It has two wood-burning fireplaces, including one in the second-floor ensuite bathroom and two gas fireplaces.
Hale said it is designed for a single family who can enjoy the location and want to be actively involved in the community, but also could be used in a multitude of ways.
“In the basement, it is a full suite. If you chose to run the property as a (bed and breakfast) or if you had a live-in nanny or an in-law suite, you’ve got different options with this house. It could be a multi-generational house if you want it to be,” she said.