14116 County Road 2, Brighton

The property at 14116 County Road 2, Brighton, (Part Lot 18 – Concession 1 – Cramahe Township) most closely resembles a three bay Cape Cod, native to the early Canadian Maritimes and the New England States, but one of very few to be found in Ontario.

It sits on a large acreage high above Lake Ontario in the Northumberland Hills.

The house was built in the 1842 making it one of the oldest in the township. It is post and beam construction and it may have been built in stages with an initial “cabin”, the size of which was related to the size of the virgin forest logs felled to clear the land. The long rear “tail” may have been a later addition as the size of families and the affluence of the owners grew.

The typical Cape Cod has a steeply pitched roof with side gables and a narrow roof overhang. It is usually one or one and a half stories. It is commonly constructed of wood and is sided in wooden clapboard or shingles. In the Maritimes and New England States, the exterior siding was often left unpainted to “weather” naturally. This house has been clad in white stucco but the 1950 photo above shows its original narrow clapboard which was first painted in the early 1940s.

Here, there is no evidence of fireplaces, only stove pipe holes connecting each room. In the photo one can see two chimneys located at the gable ends – only one remains today. The footprint of the Cape Cod is a rectangular shape with a center-hall floor plan and door. The Cape Cod “look” is created by multi- paned, double-hung windows and frequently shutters, foregone here in favour of a contrasting window sash colour. The front door too is multi- paned with paned sidelights.

This house has distinct return eaves, associated with the classic symmetry of Georgian architecture.

History or Associative Value

This property is one of the oldest in the Township of Cramahe and right to present day, it has been owned by Salem people. Located very close to the historic Salem Church, it sits on a large acreage high on a hill above Lake Ontario. It was built in 1842 by Chauncey Bellamy and his wife Almira Silver. They had 13 children. In the 1880s, it was bought by Andrew Swain. He and his wife, Harriet Ives, had 12 children. A prolific bunch in Salem! No wonder the old floorboards creak!