Maplelawn & Gardens National Historic Site of Canada

Maplelawn & Gardens was designated a national historic site of Canada in 1989 because:

• its gardens are the best preserved of the few known surviving examples of early 19th century walled gardens in Canada.
• the quality of this finely crafted home in the British classical tradition is exceptional.

Maplelawn & Gardens is a rare and well-preserved example of an early 19th-century country estate in Canada. Constructed in 1831 - 1834 for William Thomson, the residence house is an excellent example of the British classical tradition as exhibited in its rectangular plan, symmetrical façades and its centrally-placed main entrance. The casement windows, however, are not typical of this style and rather reflect French-Canadian building influences on the domestic architecture of the Ottawa Valley. The interior features a wide entrance hall with a Neoclassical semi-elliptical arch at its midpoint. The elegantly curved staircase, paneled doors and ceiling mouldings are typical of houses constructed at this time.

Adjacent to the residence is a rare, one-acre walled garden type also reminiscent of British tradition in Canada. The garden is symmetrical in its layout, and features an oval central bed at the intersection of the two gravel paths, which divide the garden into four lawns. The original stone-crafted wall surrounds both the garden and the house, located in the western section of the enclosure. In its early stages, the garden was used by the Thomson family mainly as a kitchen garden that transitioned into a lush, ornamental perennial garden in the 1940s.