Matheson House is a historic house in

Perth, Ontario Perth is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Tay River (Ontario), Tay River, southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County. History The town was established as a military settlement in 1816, shortly after the War of ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It was constructed in 1840 for Roderick Matheson, a local merchant and later a member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

. A two-storey, five-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

house of

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

-inspired design, Matheson House is surrounded by a stone garden wall. After Roderick Matheson's death in 1873, the house was inherited by Arthur James Matheson, a lawyer and member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

. After a series of subsequent owners, the house was acquired by the municipality and became the Perth Museum. The house was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada () are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being of national historic significance. Parks C ...

in 1966.

References

Historic house museums in Ontario Houses in Ontario Buildings and structures in Lanark County National Historic Sites in Ontario Museums in Lanark County Palladian Revival architecture in Canada Tourist attractions in Lanark County Sandstone buildings in Canada Sandstone houses Designated heritage properties in Ontario {{canada-hist-stub