Home of Whitby’s first mayor, Rowe House, set to see major repairs after vandalism

The Rowe House, home to Whitby’s first mayor James Rowe, will see major renovations after it was vandalized.

Rowe was born in Ireland in 1799 and immigrated to Canada at age 25. He moved to Port Whitby to build piers by 1843. He immediately proved successful in the area, establishing the grain shipping company James Rowe and Co. in 1849. He was soon elected town reeve, Warden of Ontario County and finally Whitby Mayor. He served the community until 1865 and died in 1869.

For much of his life Lowe lived in a home he built at 1600 Charles St in 1856. The home was set to be demolished in the late 90s, but the community rallied to save the structure.

In 1999, the town had the entire house picked up and moved to a new site on the lakeshore at 301 Front Street, about a kilometre away. The original Charles St site is now home to a large condo building.

According to Mayor Elizabeth Roy, the late Whitby councillor Shirley Scott was essential in saving the building. Scott served on council from 1994 until 2010. Scott died in 2015 at age 85. Scott and Roy worked together during Roy’s early days on council.

Roy told Insuaga that working to repair the site was an important priority to preserve, not only the site’s historical value, but her late friend’s legacy.

In 2003, the Whitby Heritage Community Association took over the site for a 25-year lease. The lease allows the tenant to pay only $1 a year to operate the home as a historic site. The town took over this lease in 2023.

Inspired by the runaway success of the Craft Beer Garden in the old town Pump House, the town has decided to take a similar approach to the Rowe House. As part of the town’s ongoing push to improve the lakefront, the town cleaned up the Pump House last year.

The Pump House was the first of its kind in town. However, it was replaced and sat derelict for the last 39 of its 120-year history. The town renovated it as an open-air venue in time for Canada Day 2023. Local Town Brewery is set to run the place every summer for the following five years.

With this in mind, the town set aside $400,000 to renovate the house late last year. This spring, they issued an Expression of Interest for design proposals. They’re also set to open a Request for Proposal down the road to choose a vendor to run the food and beverages out of the site.

The exterior work on the building is expected to start later this year including new siding, window glass, asphalt shingles, and soffits, refinishing doors, and repair and replacement of wood decking and handrail. All work will be done with consultation from the Whitby Heritage Community Association.