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Richard K.C. Ling, Broker

Harvey Kalles Real Estate Limited, Brokerage

BurnhamHouseCobourg

c 1812

8472 Danforth Road West

"The House is not only considered important because of its age but is

said to be a fine and rare example of neo-classic architecture."

(Cobourg Daily Star)

(Click Thumbnails below to Enlarge Pictures)

"The house has a Georgian stance, but the placement of the windows is not

entirely symmetrical, lending the building a certain vernacular appeal" (Page 83)

"The frame house Zacheus Burnham ... built in the Cape style popular in the

Burnham's native New England, with three bedrooms and a squarish (sic)

 central landing upstairs under the sloping eaves...a huge fireplace

and bake-oven ... and a couple of slip rooms......"

"Much of the land to the west of Cobourg was owned by Zaccheus(sic) Burnham. 

He was a public-spirited man - a militia officer in the War of 1812, a colonel during

 the Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837, a Member of the Legislative Assembly

 from 1834 to 1841." (Page 173)

Richard's Notes

The main house is a unique period piece - c1812, with relatively substantial acreage (4.81Ac)  in Cobourg's "Millionaire's Row" - a private enclave just minutes North of  the HWY 401 - albeit without the traffic noise.  The property also includes an attached Double Coach House, an insulated and heated 2-Storey WorkShop, a Board and Batten Horse Barn and a Baseball Diamond.

The original owner, Zacheus Burnham, owned much of the land to the west of Cobourg.  He was both a successful entrepreneur - founded one of the regional distillery, and a public-spirited man - a justice of peace, a militia officer in the War of 1812, a colonel during the Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837, and a Member of the Legislative Assembly  from 1834 to 1841.

Larry Foster, the current owner, is an antique collector, restorer and trader - running Foster and Son from the premises.  His collections include cars, furniture and various other Canadiana objets d'art and curios.  Much has been upgraded since he acquired the property in 1975 - although he left the restoration work for the Main Dwelling to be the final project.  "The house has been butchered for many generations" Mr. Foster said in his interview with the Northumberland News on August 23, 2002.  Passionate about his work, the restoration has been a long and arduous process.  Mr. Foster has converted the two-apartment rental back to a single family dwelling and laid the ground work for personalization for the next owner - he had restored and enhanced the structure - in some parts revealed the 16" wide plank pine flooring, installed an antique cabinet for the wash basin in the bathroom, commissioned an iron period piece chandelier for the Dining Room and so on; while the older lock/skelton key, hand made nails for the flooring ... etc. was left untouched.

The grounds are suitable for a large family - with an additional structure or extension perhaps.  Or perhaps some time down the road, severed the property to create 2 to 3 estate lots for development.

More Pictures

33 seconds with a 56.6 kbps Modem to open

Additional Structures
Attached Carriage House	Board & Batten Horse Barn	2 - Storey Winterized Work Shop (30' x 50')

Zacheus Burnham Biography

Property Improvements

CDN $399,000.00 / ~ U.S. $266,000.00

GreatCanadianCountryEstates Home

TheLingRegistry Home

Telephone:  416.441.2888 x 522 Cellular:  416.809.0909 /1.888.232.2088

Facsimile:  416-441-9926  Direct Fax:  1(866) 556-0823

Address:  2145 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario   M5M 4B2 Canada

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