Description of Historic Place

The Sonneck House (German for 'Sunny Corner') is located at 108 Queen Street North at the intersection of Queen Street North and Margaret Avenue, in the City of Kitchener.

The property was designated, for its historic and architectural value, by the City of Kitchener, under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, By-law 86-131.

Heritage Value

Located at a highly visible corner lot in the Civic Centre Neighbourhood of Kitchener's downtown area, the Sonneck House currently functions as a community cornerstone.

The Sonneck House is associated with the Breithaupt family who were well respected in the community. The family's political, social and business contributions were highly significant to the development of the City of Kitchener. Three generations of the Breithaupt family served the community as mayors of Berlin/Kitchener. They included Louis (I), 1879-80; son Louis Jacob, 1888-1889; son Jon Christian, 1896-1897; and grandson Louis O., 1923-24. Louis O. Breithaupt was also the Liberal M.P.P. for Waterloo North, 1940-53, and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, 1952-57. Sonneck is the last remaining Breithaupt family home in Kitchener, and therefore a valuable physical link to a historical family whose influence extended across the province.

The Sonneck House was designed in the Italianate style and constructed in 1874 by Louis Breithaupt for Judge Anthony LaCourse. Rumoured to have been designed by architect David Gingerich, Sonneck House is a stately mansion reflecting the Italianate style, and a monument to the success of the Breithaupt family. The original 1874 street-facing facades include a low pitched roof, detailed woodwork on projecting bay windows, decorative brackets beneath the eaves and multi-paned double hung windows. The exterior of the house was originally red-brick with buff brick window heads and corner quoins.

Sources: City of Kitchener By-law 86-131; Significance of the Sonneck House to the City of Kitchener, Civic Centre Neighbourhood and the Province of Ontario, Stephanie Barber, May 1998.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of the Sonneck House include its:
- Queen Street and Margaret Avenue façades including the first-floor window on the Queen Street elevation
- detailed woodwork on the Queen Street and Margaret Avenue projecting bay windows
- curved, decorative brackets beneath the eaves
- 18 pane rectangular windows
- front doorway, including the stone step
- Ionic columns and railings
- leaded transom of the front window