Annandale House / Tillsonburg Museum National Historic Site of Canada

Annandale House / Tillsonburg Museum was designated a national historic site because:

-its interior, decorated during 1883-1887 according to principles promoted by Oscar Wilde, is one of the best surviving illustrations in Canada of the Aesthetic Movement;

-the house itself is an excellent example of pattern book design, which had a major impact on domestic architecture in Canada; and -Annandale House provides a personal link to the late-Victorian age, when industrialization was radically changing society and "household art" was often seen as an important symbol of status and taste.

Built in 1881-1882 for local entrepreneur E. D Tillson (considered the father of Tillsonburg) in southwestern Ontario, the house was intended as the manor on Tillson’s model farm (now redeveloped for suburban housing) which drew visitors from Canada and abroad. Like the farm, the house incorporated the latest in technology and design. The Tillson’s support for the 1882 visit by renowned author and aesthete Oscar Wilde to the Mechanics Institute in the nearby town of Woodstock, proved to be a decisive influence on the interior decor of the mansion. Wilde popularized the Aesthetic Movement which encouraged bringing “art” into middle-class homes through the use of a full range of media in interior decor, ideally produced by local craftspeople. The Tillsons hired Detroit decorator James Walthew, who worked on the house from 1883 to 1887. The exterior, already under construction at the time, closely conforms to plans for “Brick villa No. 2" in Villas and Cottages: or Homes for All by William M. Woollett of Albany, New York. A modern two-storey museum wing was added to the rear of the house in 1985. The building is now operated as a museum.