A Mississauga home that hosted a First World War veteran party is up for a heritage designation.
The home at 20 Ben Machree Dr., near Lake Ontario, is being considered for the designation, according to a report to the March 10 Heritage Advisory Committee.
The summer home was built for Toronto clothing manufacturer Andrew M. Hobberlin, who purchased the then 2.29-acre property, in 1910. Hobberlin hired well-known Toronto architect Edward J. Lennox to design the home.
With his brothers, Hobberlin founded a successful Toronto-based men’s clothing chain that made fashionable dress wear at affordable prices. The Hobberlin’s were well known for their support of the war effort, according to the heritage report. Part of the Toronto factory was converted to manufacture uniforms for the Canadian forces.
“Mrs. Hobberlin was one of the founders of the Peel Memorial Hospital in Brampton and the house on Ben Machree was always open to wounded soldiers,” the report stated. “Fundraisers were held at Ben Machree to purchase soap and tea to be shipped out to Canadian soldiers.”
When the war was over, and the soldiers returned home, the Hobberlin’s arranged a veteran parade. The parade started at the Port Credit bandstand (located where the cenotaph is now on Stavebank Road) and ended at the Hobberlin Estate on Ben Machree where a garden party was held for all the veterans and their families.
Arthur Meighen, a future Prime Minister, gave a speech at the garden party about government support for returning soldiers and Hobberlin announced a personal policy to hire returning soldiers in his textile factory in Toronto.
Hobberlin sold the property in 1922, and the land was later subdivided for housing. Approximately 1.4 acres were retained around the house. While the home has changed very little, the grounds have seen considerable change.
However, the home is a “rare remnant of the turn-of-the-century cottage community of this area,” the heritage report notes. It displays a high degree of craftsmanship.
A more recent photo of the home at 20 Ben Machree Dr. Photo: City of Mississauga
The property also has historical value due to its association with architect E.J. Lennox and Hobberlin, who were both significant to the community.
The committee will consider the heritage designation at the March 10 meeting.
For more information, see the agenda here.
Lead photo of the Victory Day celebration on the Hobberlin estate in 1919: Heritage Mississauga
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