Matheson House is a historic house in

Perth, Ontario Perth is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the 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 1812. The settleme ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. It was constructed in 1840 for

Roderick Matheson The Honourable Roderick Matheson (December 1793 – January 13, 1873) was an Ontario businessman and political figure. He was a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 1867 until his death. Early life He was born in Lochcarro ...

, a local merchant and later a member of the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the ...

. 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, circular bay with a nar ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

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 Arthur James Matheson (December 1842 – January 25, 1913) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as a Conservative Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Lanark South Lanark South was a federal electoral distric ...

, a lawyer and member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 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 (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du 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 ...

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