HomeMy WebLinkAbout291"Article copied from the New Advertiser, Sunday, April 26, 1992 page 18.
Illustration – The McKay house, also known as Charnachy, is unique to the Ajax area but faces an
uncertain future.
Future of abandoned McKay house ‘uncertain’
Donald McKay arrived in the Ajax area, then called Pickering Township, in the mid-1830s.
A few years later with wife Margaret Broadbent, Donald moved to lands on the north side of
Kingston Rd. (now Hwy. 2) just
east of Pickering Beach Rd. where a log cabin, barn and carriage shed had been erected by a
previous tenant. Donald
and Margaret lived in the log cabin, started a family, and worked the fertile land for many years
prior to purchasing all 200 acres in 1853.
Typical of the agricultural land in this area, each spring thaw brought new and annoying boulders
to the surface in the crop fields. These hunks of granite would be collected and set aside for the
construction of stone foundations and/or a stone house. A log house provided protection from the
elements, but a stone house reflected a person's success in the community.
In 1854, Donald McKay built his family an impressive two-storey stone home on their land.
The care and craftsmanship of a Scottish or British stone mason is apparent in the front facade,
for the large stones are squared and lined in courses with smaller , flatter stones filling the cavities
between. The back and side walls, as well as the walls of the summer kitchen,
are constructed of rubble stone; the stone is laid with very little cutting and no attempt to create
courses. Since the front of the dwelling was visible from Kingston Rd., its construction was
expensive and detailed. The McKay house is unique to the Ajax area for in addition to local
fieldstone being used as a building material, Kingston limestone is prevelant throughout.
It is believed the ships from Kingston carried Kingston limestone as ballast.
When entering port in Pickering, the limestone was dropped and quality Pickering lumber
produced in the mills on Duffins Creek would be used as ballast on the trip back to Kingston.
This limeston's very consistent grey quality is a stark contrast to local fieldstone and was used in
the construction of the McKay house as an accent in lintels and for the snall filler stone between
the larger squared granite in the front facade, The stone dwelling, also know as Charnachy
after the village in Scotland where Donald McKay was born is important to Ajax as it is the only
home in Ajax featured in the 1877 County of Ontario Atlas. The Sketch in the atlas illustrates
the McKay house as a very attractive and productive estate. Today, the laneway still
approaches the home centrally, then curves to the right. Donald and Margaret McKay raised
four sons and two daughters in this home. Their son, William was a captain with the 55th
Regiment of Foot, and died at the age of 25 years in 1866. Another son, Angus, was quite a
prominent figure in Western Canada, and was referred to as the ""Grand Old Man from
Saskatchewan"". In 1887, he was
appointed Superintendent of the Dominion Farm at Indian Head, Saskatchewan, and was
later recognized for his valuable work by the University of
Saskatchewan and bestowed the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.
The McKay house in 1882 sustained a fire. The interior of the house did suffer some damage,
however, it is believed most of the woodwork and staircase in the home is original to the
dwelling.
The house is on a site in transition, owned by a developer and awaiting redevelopment. It has,
therefore, been abandoned, but not forgotten. Only because of the
superior construction of the McKay house has it been able to survive such neglect to date.
The future, however, is very uncertain
"