Item - 2021.PB27.3

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1.  City Council state its intention to designate the property at 1007 Craven Road under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 1007 Craven Road (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (September 17, 2021) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2.  If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

3. City Council authorize the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement under Section 37 of the Ontario Heritage Act with the owner of the property at 1007 Craven Road in a form and with content satisfactory to the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning and the City Solicitor.

4. City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bill in Council authorizing the entering into of a Heritage Easement Agreement for the property at

1007 Craven Road.

Marybeth McTeague, Planner, and Loryssa Quattrociocchi, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on 1007 Craven Road - Notice of Intention to Designate a Property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act and Authority to Enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 1007 Craven Road under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act and give authority to enter into a Heritage Easement Agreement for the property with the owner. 

The property at 1007 Craven Road contains the internationally renowned and award-winning Craven Road House and Studio (1993-6 and 2004-6, respectively). Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. designed the house and studio owned by Robert G. Hill, Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. The house received a Governor General's Award in 1997 and the studio was recognized with a Governor General's Medal in 2010. 

Robert G. Hill creator of the Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950 has received national and international recognition for his contribution to architectural scholarship and history and has received numerous awards.

Hill commissioned Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliff to realize the project. Brigitte Shim and A. Howard Sutcliffe are Members of the Order of Canada and RAIC Gold Medalists. The Toronto-based partnership, known as Shim-Sutcliffe Architects Inc. have received fifteen Governor General's Awards and Medals as well as other awards for their work as architects and educators, which has achieved global recognition through publications, exhibitions and a documentary film. Since completion, the house and studio and their landscaped setting have been extensively published in Canada and internationally and are widely acclaimed as proof that architectural excellence through meticulous design standards can be achieved on a tight budget and at a compact scale. 

In May of 2021, Robert G. Hill, the owner of the property, contacted the local ward councillor requesting that his property at 1007 Craven Road be designated under the Ontario Heritage Act and further protected through a Heritage Easement Agreement. Robert G. Hill, Brigitte Shim and Howard Sutcliff, have generously provided access to the project archival records and journals and have shared their insights and recollections of the property with Heritage Planning staff.

Following city staff's research and evaluation of the property under Ontario Regulation 9/06, the provincial criteria prescribed for municipal designation, it has been determined that the property at 1007 Craven Road merits designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its design, associative and contextual values.