Municipal Heritage Designation (Part IV)
Ermatinger Old Stone House
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Also known as Old Stone House, Ermatinger-Clergue National Historic Site, Ermatinger House
Looking northg from Bay Street
Photo: City of Sault Ste. Marie
- Built
- 1812–1814
- Recognized
- 1993
- By
- Local government
The register’s text, word for word
Description
Built by Charles Oakes Ermatinger in 1812-1814, the Ermatinger Old Stone House is a two-storey stone structure built on the north bank of the St. Mary's River near the rapids in Sault Ste. Marie.
It has been recognized for its heritage value by the City of Sault Ste. Marie, By-Law 80-112. It has also been recognized by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as a National Historic Site of Canada.
Heritage value
The Ermatinger Old Stone House provides a link to Sault Ste. Marie's role in the fur trade and to one of it’s earliest settlers. Charles Oakes Ermatinger, a member of a prominent Montreal family who joined the Northwest Company and married Charlotte Katawabeda, the daughter of the Paramount Chief of the Ojibway, built the house in 1812-1814. The house quickly became the centre of government in the northwest part of the province and of the business and social life of the district. It later served as the first courthouse, a post office and a hotel, welcoming prominent visitors such as Henry R. Schoolcraft, Lord Selkirk, Anna Jameson, George Catlin and Paul Kane.
The house also served as the headquarters of Sir Garnet Wolseley in 1870 when the expedition he commanded stopped at Sault Ste. Marie en route to quell the Red River Rebellion and to establish Canadian sovereignty over Manitoba and the Northwest Territories.
Ermatinger built the house of local red sandstone in a style characteristic of vernacular Georgian architecture but employed Quebec construction techniques. It is thought to be the oldest surviving stone house in north eastern Ontario.
SourceSault Ste. Marie Designation Bylaw 80-112; Ermatinger Old Stone House Designation Report
Character‑defining elements
Character defining elements of the house that reflect its value as an early example of vernacular Georgian architecture include the:
- symmetrical facade and layout
- low-pitched hipped roof
- multi-paned 12-over-12 sash windows
- projecting entrance pavilion with doric columns and pediment
Character defining elements of the house that reflect its value as an early example of Quebec masonry house construction techniques include:
- rough cut fieldstone of varying sizes on both faces covered, unpointed, with lime mortar
- interior partition framing of rough dressed vertical timbers, a style known as "en colonbage"
End of the register’s text
Location
831 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, P6A, Canada
46.50628° N, 84.32457° W
Get directions (opens in a new tab)Being on the register doesn’t make a place open to visitors. Many are private homes or businesses; please view them from the street.
Loading map…
Similar places
Places whose register descriptions are closest to this one.
From the Canadian Register of Historic Places, as last updated on December 12, 2025. The register’s text is shown word for word.