Description of Property
The 0.1-hectare property municipally addressed as 24 Blake Street, Hamilton, is comprised of one-and-one-half-storey detached brick carriage house built circa 1875 located the rear of the property and is also comprised of a circa 1910 century two-and-a-half-storey brick dwelling. The property is located on the west side of Blake Street between Main Street East and Maplewood Avenue, in the Blakeley Neighborhood, in the City of Hamilton.
Statement of Cultural Heritage Value or Interest
The one-and-one-half-storey brick accessory building located at 24 Blake Street was originally constructed circa 1875 to match the intricate design of the historic Eastcourt residence (now demolished). The property has physical value as a representative and unique example of a nineteenth-century brick carriage house influenced by the Second Empire style of architecture, and displays a high degree of craftsmanship in the form of its cast iron detailing, the use of which is also considered to be rare.
The property has historical value for its associations with the prominent Hoodless family. In 1893, Joseph Hoodless (1824-1895) and son John Hoodless (1854-1923),the owners of the prosperous furniture making business J. Hoodless & Son, purchased the Eastcourt Estate. By 1894, John and his family, including Adelaide Hoodless (nee Hunter) (1857-1910) were living on the property. Adelaide Hoodless was an important political player and champion for Canadian women’s education in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries on a national scale. Locally, Adelaide participated in the founding of Hamilton’s Young Women’s Christian Association and opened the Young Women’s Christian Association School of Domestic Science before establishing the Ontario Normal School of Domestic Science and Art in 1900. Beyond Hamilton, Adelaide also played an instrumental role in Ontario’s adoption of domestic science into its public education, in the forming of the Young Women’s Christian Association of Canada in 1895, the Women’s Institute in 1897, and presiding over the creation of the Macdonald Institute of Home Economics in Guelph in 1903. Through its affiliations with Adelaide, Eastcourt became a frequented gathering place women’s organizing in the nineteenth century.
The property is historically and physically linked to its surroundings, as the last remaining building connected to the Eastcourt Estate; the Eastcourt Carriage House stands as a testament to the design and detail of the historically significant property. Its presence is also a tangible reminder of the historic evolution of the Blakeley Neighbourhood, including the evolution of the Eastcourt Estate into apartments. The Carriage House has also played an important role in shaping local urban development, with the 1910 plan for the area showing plans for the present-day public laneway to accommodate and wrap around the building. It is further linked to nearby properties including: 770 Main Street East (the lot on which the Eastcourt Estate was historically located), 7 Blake Street, formerly Linden Place and now known as Adelaide Residence, which was also constructed in the Second Empire style in 1875, and the Adelaide Hoodless Elementary School at 71 Maplewood Avenue which was constructed and named in honour of Adelaide Hoodless.