Whitehern

There are two plaques at this location.
Both can be seen on this page.

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted April, 2004

Plaque Location

The City of Hamilton
On the southwest corner of
Macnab Street South and Jackson Street West
1 block south of Main Street West

Coordinates: N 43 15.285 W 79 52.299

Plaque Text

This stately mansion is a finely crafted and well-preserved example of Hamilton's early stone architecture. Built no later than 1850 for city clerk and attorney Richard Duggan, it was purchased in 1852 by Calvin McQuesten, M.D. (1801-85), a prosperous manufacturer and philanthropist. Following his death, McQuesten's descendants occupied Whitehern until 1968 when it was bequeathed to the City of Hamilton for use as a public museum. The home's interior displays family possessions dating from three centuries and various styles of décor popular between 1860 and 1930. Despite changes dictated by time and fashion, the house and grounds retain much of their original appearance.

Photo by contributor Wayne Adam - Posted June, 2009

Plaque Text

Set in a rare walled garden and enriched by its interior decoration, Whitehern is a remarkably intact example of mid-19th century residential architecture. The lingering influence of the Palladian style combined with Neoclassical motifs is seen most clearly in the symmetrical facade with its central frontispiece capped by a pediment, and in the sturdy yet graceful entrance porch supported by Ionic columns. Constructed about 1850, this house built of locally quarried stone reflected the affluence and status of the new business and professional elites emerging in pre-Confederation Canada.

Related Ontario plaque
Thomas Baker McQuesten, 1882-1948

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More
Homes

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