home > Ivey Lodge: The Fearman House
Ivey Lodge:
The Fearman House
By Daniel
Cumerlato
A
Landmark Through the Ages
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Built in 1863 and located at 90 Stinson Street, Ivey Lodge, also known as the The Fearman House, stands as the main landmark for all of the historical homes located in the impressive Stinson area. Used as the logo for the Stinson Neighbourhood association, this structure is a prime example of a beautiful gothic style now lost in today's trendy homes.
F.W.
Fearman and Star Brand Meats
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This beautiful home was once owned by one of Hamilton's wealthiest families and at its height The Fearman's impressive land stretched way back to the escarpment. On the land included with the mansion, there were many fruit and vegetable gardens, a greenhouse, and a large barn that housed horses, wagons, buggies and sleighs.
The father of the house and main figure of the family was Frederick William Fearman who owned a famous meat packing business known as "Star Brand ham and bacon". Throughout the 1880's "Star Brand" yielded a lot of profits as it shipped its products throughout the United States.
F.W. Fearman was a significant figure in Hamilton's growth years. He responsibilities included being an important leader in civic affairs, a school trustee, a city councilor, a member of the library board and the first ever chairman of the parks board of Hamilton. In 1855 he lobbied for the expansion of the city's parkland, and his most memorable accomplishment as chairman was the purchase of Dundurn Castle's land for a city park, this additionally served as a way to preserve the castle for future generations. Also in 1855, he fought to have a waterworks system constructed in Hamilton.
F.W. Fearman
died at the grand age of 81 in 1906.
The
Ivey Still Grows
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Starting
with Robert S. Hart in 1926, the Ivey Lodge changed owners continuously
until in 1954 when it was sold to the Catholic Welfare Bureau. The Bureau
would turn the mansion into various Catholic agencies until 1993, when
the Roman Catholic Diocese applied for a permit to demolish this historical
and beautiful mansion. A representative for the Diocese reported to the
Hamilton Spectator in regards to the permit request, "We just want
to keep our options open."
Enter the knights in shining armor, as Good Shephard Non-Profit Homes shows real interest in purchasing the mansion and conveys a plan to the city for conversion to low-cost apartments. Since the Diocese felt negative pressure from their original request to demolish, to regain popularity they offered to turnover the home for free. Now the Good Shephard had to come up with a minimum of $500,000 in renovation fees before they can claim ownership.
The Good Shephard soon applied for a 2.5 million dollar grant from the city of Hamilton for restoration costs. After careful consideration and debate, the city decided on a figure of one million. The green light was given in 1994 as the Good Shephard prepared to gut the mansion and convert it to 33 low-cost apartment units, only one thing still stood in the way, The Stinson Community Association.
The Association
disagreed with the plans to gut the mansion, as much original architecture
still existed within those walls. Now here was one major dilemma, stop
the gutting and you risk losing the buyer and having the home demolished,
allow the gutting and you lose all of the original architecture. It was
a difficult decision and the final answer was to allow the gutting and
save the mansion.
Final
Thought
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The
home still stands and is a wonderful example of Hamilton's rich past.
During the fight to save Ivey Lodge, F.W. Fearman's great-granddaughter's
made the trip from Waterdown to visit the former home of their ancestors
to show their pride in it. This is what makes the decision on whether
to save or demolish a historical home (like the one the Good Shephard
people had to make). It's the pride of the family who built it and citizens
of Hamilton that keep these homes around for future generations. It's
almost as if the home thrives on our pride, lives off it and could die
from lack of it.
