The former Aldergrove home of James and Laura Shortreed has been formally declared a heritage site.
The July 21 vote by Township council was unanimous.
Shortreed built the house in the 1920s on 26B Avenue, about 40 years after his family first bought property in the area.
James was the son of Robert Shortreed, one of the earliest landowners in the Aldergrove area.
The elder Shortreed was the local justice of the peace for 36 years.
Robert Shortreed also installed the first telegraph in the area and ran a post office and general store at the intersection of Old Yale and County Line Roads, which was known as “Shortreed Corners.”
His son and daughter-in-law commissioned a one-and-a-half story wood house built with material produced by local mills, one that a report to Township council describes as typical for the period between the two World Wars.
“The simplified, Craftsman-influenced design reflects the austerity of the immediate post-First World War era, but also demonstrates the nostalgic traditionalism that suffused North America after the end of the war and the return of peace,” Township heritage planner Elaine Horricks wrote.
The building was later relocated down the street to its current location in the 2600 block of 272A Street.
Horricks called the James and Laura Shortreed residence a “significant historic asset” that “remains in substantially original condition” thanks to work by the current owners, Breanna Statler and Derek Crowie, to upgrade and restore the property.
Statler and Crowie applied for the heritage designation, which is intended to protect the building from design changes or demolition in years to come.