Barker Willson House/The Shaw House, 31 Foster Street

Construction of the Shaw House began in 1862 under William McNairn Shaw and it is reputed that it took an estimated five to seven years to complete, as work on the house was seasonal. William McNairn Shaw is also associated with Perth’s early history as he is reputed to have been one of Perth’s best early barristers, who went on to sit in the first parliament of the Provincial Legislature from 1867 until 1871 as the representative of South Lanark. The Shaw House’s historical significance is also attributed to its testimony of houses built in rural Ontario in the 1860s and 1870s. Plans for a symmetrical Italianate house with a projecting frontispiece appeared in the Canada Farmer in 1865, after which variations of the style were built throughout rural and small-town Ontario, usually in brick.

The Shaw House is a fine example of the Italianate style, which was in popular use for town houses around the time of Canada’s Confederation, complete with rounded windows, wide eaves, and a symmetrical façade. The double-stacked chimneys, linked at the base on the east side, and the single-stack cousin on the west draw the eye skyward to admire the craftsmanship. The dormer windows on either side of the main tower are a much newer addition, from the mid-1940’s. The roof trim is relatively simple, but the elegant, almost Florentine stonework at the tops of the major windows on the south, east and west sides, provides an attractive and artistic touch to this house.

This enormous house was heated originally by wood and it was said to be so cold and damp that Mrs. Shaw’s knitting needles rusted and had to be frequently replaced. The cost at completion has been estimated at $9,000. The home initially had an elegant, scooped verandah on the front and both sides. This was replaced by the present porches at some point while the Campbell family was in residence from 1898 to 1932. Of particular note are the beautiful and original stained glass windows, at the entrance and at the head of the first flight of the staircase, which itself wends its way most strikingly up all three levels.

At the rear of the house there were originally stables that, records show, housed horses and livery for two carriages. Thomas Campbell had the stone addition built in their place.

This is a wonderful, lovingly preserved and stately building, proudly saluting early Perth elegance and craftsmanship.

Photograph provided by Barker Willson, Barristers and Solicitors