Description of Historic Place

The Robinson-Adamson House is located at 1921 Dundas Street West, on the north side of the street, in the City of Mississauga. The one-and-a-half storey wood house is traditionally believed to have been constructed in circa 1828.

The property was designated, by the City of Mississauga, in 1977 for its heritage value, under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, By-law 517-77.

Heritage Value

The land on which the Robinson-Adamson House is built was purchased by the Crown from the Native Mississauga in 1818. In 1821 Samuel Smith and John Beverley Robinson, then Attorney-General, who were both members of the Executive Council of Upper Canada, were appointed as trustees for the sale of the land. After Smith's death in 1826, Robinson became the sole trustee for the property.

In 1830 Robinson sold 50 acres of land and the house to Thomas Hickey, after whom it passed through numerous hands until Arthur Adamson purchased the property in 1910. The title of the property fluctuated between Arthur and his brother Henry H. Adamson. Both men were farmers; Arthur was also the apiary inspector of Halton, Dufferin and Peel countries while Henry was the director of the Erindale branch of the United Farmers of Ontario in 1925. Henry sold the house and land to Mallpaks Development Corporation Limited in 1968 who donated the house and 0.9 acres to the City of Mississauga.

The building has been used by the Boy Scouts of Canada as a Peel Regional office since circa 1981. In late 2004, the Mississauga Heritage Foundation (Heritage Mississauga) relocated to the Robinson-Adamson House.

The Robinson-Adamson House is a good representation of the Regency style cottage and is one of Canada's earliest examples of leisured country living. The symmetrical residence has a low pitched hip roof with two dormers as well as a gable roof on the back extension. Two double linked chimneys maintain the building's symmetry. Large 32 paned casement windows and a front door surrounded by a glazed transom and sidelights draws the eye to a facade with more glass than wood; both windows and door have decorative Neo-Classical mouldings. Above, a large cornice is decorated with dentil trim and arcades. The wood frame building, sheathed in stucco, was covered by an external veneer of brick in the 1920s, which was removed when the building was rehabilitated, in the early 1980s.

Extensive alterations have taken place in the interior of the house, the central staircase has been reversed, but the vestibule transom light and three wooden mantels are original.

Sources: City of Mississauga By-law 517-77; City of Mississauga 1978 Memorandum, Canadian Inventory of Historic Building.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of the Robinson-Adamson House include its:
- one-and-a-half storey wood construction
- hip roof and back extension gable roof
- rear shed
- stone foundation
- symmetrical facade
- front entrance with transom and sidelights
- windows with Neo-Classical mouldings
- decorative cornice
- wooden mantels