Description of Historic Place

The Mary Ann Wilken House is located at 588 Gorham Street, in Newmarket Ontario. This one-and-a-half storey, unadorned Gothic Revival residence was built in circa 1875. It was clad in wood siding and rests upon a concrete foundation.

The Mary Ann Wilken House has been designated, for its historical and architectural significance, by the Town of Newmarket, through By-law number 2006-44.

Heritage Value

Named for its longest resident, Mary Ann Wilken, who lived there from 1875 to 1911, the building's construction is attributed to the previous owner, George Watson Hunter. It is located on Gorham Street, named for Eli Gorham, the original landowner and one of the earliest settlers in Newmarket.

The Wilken house is one-and-a-half storeys in height, of wood construction and rests on a concrete foundation. The building is an excellent example of a simple and unadorned Gothic Revival style house, popular in various forms, during the 19th century. In addition this house exemplifies the type of accommodations available to working and trades families, in Newmarket, during the latter half of the 19th century.

The building features a rectangular floor plan facing Gorham Street, with a centred main entrance, which is flanked by shuttered one-over-one double-hung windows. The gable roof is interrupted by a steeply pitched central gable that highlights the upper-storey window. The kitchen was added shortly after the home's construction to accommodate the Wilken family. During its history other additions have been made to the house, the most recent being a mudroom, a screened summer porch and a detached garage.

The straight lines and minimal decoration of the house provide a clean canvas for the gable window. Purchased during a renovation fundraising sale, from the Christian Baptist Church, its use of a former church window, is evident in the Gothic elements of pointed arch and tracery which contains stained glass. The window was original to the church and is of the same time period as the house.

Source: Town of Newmarket, By-law number 2006-44.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements which illustrate the heritage value of the Mary Ann Wilken house include its:
- simple and rectangular plan
- lack of decorative features that simplifies the gothic revival style
- stained glass window, that originally belonged to the Christian Baptist Church
- frame construction with wood siding