The Code House, Kininvie, 50 Herriott Street

“The early 1880’s and turn of the century were economic boom times for Perth. A noted expression of this affluence is the complex of buildings developed by Thomas Alfred Code, which dominates almost an entire block of Perth’s downtown core, from the corner of Gore Street along Herriott Street and up Wilson street. Thomas A. Code, who started his woolen mill in Innisville, was one of several entrepreneurs active in eastern Ontario’s woolen industry. He moved to Perth in 1876 and by 1883 he had acquired the old Kilpatrick tannery at Herriott and Wilson.

 The Code complex dramatically reflects the “City Beautiful” movement, with buildings set out almost as if on public display. It includes his grand Edwardian residence Kininvie, a stone boomtown-fronted duplex, the imposing three-storey Royal Bank Building, and the Mill.“  (Perth, Tradition and Style in Eastern Ontario by Larry Turner, Page 78-79.)

Photograph, c1910, courtesy of the current owner of the residence.