This century old Riverside mansion is the next one due for a date with the wrecking ball. In the 1990 the property was purchased by the current owner for redevelopment. Until such a plan was finalized, the owner leased the property out for use as a Bed & Breakfast. The owner has finally decided that the time for redevelopment is now, and a demolition permit has been applied for. Under the Ontario Heritage act, there is a 60 day waiting period for demolition of heritage listed buildings. The 60 days on this one is up at the end of September.
The house was built c. 1890 by the original owner Robert Barr who according to the city directories was at one time the Editor of the Detroit Free Press. Although a bit of research was done, and the Free Press has no records of Mr. Barr. The house remained in the Barr family until 1942.
This house, and the Joyce House at the end of the of the block are the only remnants of what was once known as Millionaire’s Row. The house was originally scheduled for demolition in 1997.
Also of interest is the iron fence along the front of the property. It dates to about 1879, and was originally from the downtown Windsor Post Office that was demolished in the early 1930’s for the current Paul Martin Building.
Always good times in a city where a shitty ass highrise holds more interest than a 117 year old mansion.
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3 years later ...has this one been razed???
Still here.
Back in the 1920's John Barr leased this house to Ford City and my Grandfather William Girard was the Fire Chief of Ford City at the time. He needed a home for his large family and they let him live there for a modest rent. He had 7 children when he moved in and 5 more were born in the hou my father was born in 1921 and his 4 younger brothers too. My grandfather was a practical man and he saw that the manicured front lawn was just a waste so he plowed it up and put in a crop of corn and tomatoes. My 5 aunts that were older than my dad told me that they were mortified because their house stood out among all the other mansons that lined that part of Riverside. So when they went to their school dances the chaufer of the Joinville family would let them out at their house next door instead. The back yard stretched to Wyndotte and had several fruit trees including a Jesuit pare tree or two among others. I had the privelage of staying there for a weekend in 2000 and the people running the bed and breakfast told me that the reasons that this house was never torn down were for one it sits on top of a gas main and secondly that the Bridge co. under Matty Maroun owns the property. Otherwise it too would have been razed to make way for another condo complex. The house was actually built in 1884 and in the front foyer there was a huge framed list of all the people that lived in this house. In the 1960's it was owned by Dr. Wilson. When I was there I made sure I took plenty of pictures of all the rooms. My dad often spoke of his childhood in this house and how they thought it was haunted even back then. On the front porch was a model of the home that was found in the basement when it was turned into a bed and breakfast I have a picture of that too.
I was told by the proprieters of the Bed and Breakfast told me that Matty Maroun owns
the property along with other properties up and down the drive. He owns the propety at the foot of Lauzon and the Drive too. He scooped it all up when the Canadian government first announced that they were thinking of putting in a second border crossing. He wanted to make sure that he owned as much of the vacant land that was available. I guess he over looked the Brighten Beach area..
So far all that's come down is that gazebo out front.
This house will not be torn down. It is on the heritage list, but it dates from the early 1900s (according to the schedule) I don't know why, if it was supposedly built in the late 1800s?
Does the city just guess?