Monday, March 16, 2009

8b: Yates on Paper

Man's home really is castle

EXTRA! Yates Castle, a piece of local history, is for sale

Posted By SUSAN GAMBLE, EXPOSITOR STAFF

Updated 1 day ago

Just two families have owned the remarkable house called Wynarden in the past 145 years.

But now there's a chance for a third person to own the stuff of dreams: a "castle."

The remarkable Wynarden property up for sale -- commonly known as Yates Castle -- is one of the most unusual homes in the city, but also a bit of a mystery.

The Talos family, owners for the last 80 years, avoided publicity to some degree.

They declined home and garden tours because of the number of tenants who live on the property and, except for a massive renovation that took place in the 1980s, the home has rarely been brought to the public's attention.

Painters and photographers have found the allure of the house and it has been written about in architectural books. But the best way of discovering Yates Castle has been serendipitously -- getting lost behind Terrace Hill Street on Usher Street and gasping at the startling sight of the mansion sitting across from the train tracks.

Henry Rushton Yates was the railway magnate who built the house and spared no expense.

His legacy was raved about in The Expositor of 1865: "It has splendid suites of rooms for all

Yours for $1,855,000


continued within:

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1478182


#8: Update on Yates

Opening the Saturday paper this week was a shocking surprise; the Yates mansion is up for sale. The very same mansion that I posted a month ago is now ready to buy for the asking price of 1.8 million. That is more money then I will ever see, but seems like a fair price to ask for such a fantastic piece.
The article was big talk at work. It was actually the most talked about non-political article and it was great to see non-Brantford residents know of the place. Even better, was to see that the life-long residents of Brantford had no idea what we were talking about.
The paper actually reminded me that I've met the owners of this place, as they are friends of my parents and have been for years. Clearly I should take him up on his offer to give me a tour of the place, before it's sold to someone not as open.

I've posted a section of the newspaper (8b) and some great pictures taken for the paper, and a link to the actual article.

http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1478182

April 16th 2009: I've taken off the photos I orginally added, as they were not mine. They can, however, be viewed by following the above link to the Brantford Expositor.)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

#7: Letter to the Editor

Being completely outraged by the lack of respect Brantford has for itself, I had to vent in a public forum. The response was generally positive, but my grandmother was concerned about how I attacked the one council member. 
An interesting side note, two days after the paper printed the following letter I attended a public planning session about the Grand River. Everyone had to wear the traditional name tag, and during the many group sessions I noticed other people pointing at my name. I was very confused because, at that time, had not realized my letter had been published.


Here is the letter published in the Brantford Expositor:

Living in and around the City of Brantford for that past 30 years I really should be surprised to hear another downtown building is labeled as unsuitable and scheduled for demolition – this is a city obsessed with the notion that through destruction we’ll find our salvation. Yet, I read last week that the Esquire Theatre, a marvel in art deco design, is to be torn down. Councilor Richard Carpenter is even quoted as saying he’d agree with a plan to “demolish every building on the south side of Colbourn”. What has this city done to deserve such disrespect to its physical history? How has Brantford wronged you Mr. Carpenter? Perhaps the most important rhetorical question: “Why does this always happen in Brantford?”
As a planning student I’ve taken special interest in Brantford and learned one very important aspect of heritage buildings: once they’re gone, they’re gone. If only this building had fur and big cute eyes it would be regarded as the true urban endangered species it really is.
Destroying the south side of Colborne (starting with this building) will be the culmination of failure that is the City Council. The ideology behind urban renewal – the act of city planning via demolition and rebuilding – doesn’t work and has never truly worked. The Eaton’s Mall, Market Street reconstruction, and the parking plaza are example of renewal attempts and all complete failures in architecture, cultural, and social concerns. Council should be looking into why downtown is not success, why it’s vacant and not allow classic brick to be replaced with steel and glass.

#6: Esquire Theatre


Esquire Theatre
Brantford, On

Clearly, I've been lacking the weekly posting - but I have been gathering a lot of pictures of the area. A lot of developments have also happened within the area, and they fit this project's idiom perfectly.

  

   I can't remember ever being in this building, but it is a symbol for how things in Brantford are done wrong.

   The Esquire is a (former) theatre built in 1934, designed during a period of art deco. Art deco, by-the-way, is my person favourite style of architecture and one that seems to be sacrificed more then any others in this area. The style is usually very different from surrounding buildings, and it sticks out. Currently, the building is vacant due a fire that happened within the last 10 years. Stating that, I have to state the obvious: this building hasn't been used in 10 years. How do we subject timeless pieces of art to such disregard and allow massive construction of completely disposable retail strips? Too many times does free parking come out as the only answer.

  My first introduction to this piece was within the Brantford Expositor. City Council is currently judging if this piece is even worth saving, or if it's better to completely demolish and leave a gapping hole until some 'better' idea comes about. The city's heritage community is asking to keep the falc
onish statue that adorns the tops...but they haven’t said anything about how simple it is to keep the facade. It's all rather disappointing.