Description du lieu patrimonial

The Mullen House is located at 92 Goderich Street West, on the north side of Goderich Street West, east of Louisa Street, in Seaforth, in the Municipality of Huron East. The two-and-a-half-storey white brick house was constructed in 1886.

The property was designated, by the former Town of Seaforth (now Municipality of Huron East) in 1978, for its heritage value, under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, By-law 12 (1978).

Valeur patrimoniale

The Mullen House is associated with Leonard L. McFaul, son of a United Empire Loyalist and Principal of the Old Seaforth Public School from 1875 to 1901 who was the original owner. Built for McFaul in 1886, the house was called Lorne Villa, named after the Governor-General of Canada, the Marquis of Lorne. It later came to be known as the Mullen House, after McFaul's son-in-law. It remained in the McFaul-Mullen family for close to 100 years.

Constructed in 1886, the Mullen House reflects the vernacular of the late Victorian Period that was popular from the 1870s to the 1890s. The style was popular in many parts of Ontario and features multi-storey bays, gable brackets, complex roofs and a broad freedom in design. The Mullen House exemplifies many of the basic design features of its time. It has a two-storey semi-circular bay, two gable roofs, a large veranda, large brackets and a gabled roof over the front entrance.

The builder of the house was Philip Sparling, who was both a carpenter and manufacturer of patent churns. Sparling's approach to design was to express the actual structure of the gables, and the result was exposed rafters under the roof. His use of symmetry and balance on the overall asymmetrical form is also characteristic for this time period.

Sources: Town of Seaforth By-law 12 (1978); Designation Proposal.

Éléments caractéristiques

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of the Mullen House include its:
- two-and-a-half-storey white-brick exterior
- cross gabled roof
- decorative wood trim
- brick chimneys
- exposed rafters
- placement of the gables
- two-storey semi-circular bay
- veranda
- brackets
- gable roof above the entrance