Ancaster Beauty - Shaver House

I found this house by accident in the Summer of 2010. I was working in the area and after exiting the 403 at Wilson Street, I received a text so I pulled over to the side of the road to read it. As I pulled over, I noticed what appeared to be some gray stone-like surfaces poking through the well over-grown greenery.

Me being as curious as I am, decided to return at a later time with my camera.

And this is what I found.

As from the pictures, the original structure was built in 1858. Would love to know when the addition was built and when it became uninhabited. Looking at some of the pictures, you can see a few items which lead me to believe that it may have only been abandoned a hand-full of years........ The house faces Wilson Street, but the address appears to be 377 Shaver Road, as this is where the driveway entrance is (firelane sign right beside it).

I contacted Haunted Hamilton about it in July of last year, but they hadn(a)t responded as of yet. As you will see in one of the pictures, the property has been sold. I(a)m hoping to god that Ancaster has a strong enough Heritage Protection program in place....

Yes, sad to say this beautiful house was burnt down early Saturday August 13th, 2011. And as I suspected, and was confirmed in the Hamilton Spectator, this was the Shaver House.

From the Hamilton Spectator - Written by Danielle Wong

"Jim Green - who is an archivist for the Ancaster Township Historical Society, said that the building located at 377 Shaver Road is indeed the Daniel Shaver house, built in 1858."

"In 1861, Shaver(a)s farm was valued at $21,000 - the highest value property in Ancaster at the time, said Green, who had been trying to have the home designated as a heritage site. The site is listed as being of historical interest, but has never received the protection of a full historical designation."

"The Shaver homestead was originally called Maple Hill ( I believe the name Limestone Manor was created by the most recent real estate company that sold the property) and featured a stone front - which was the oldest section - and a brick wall on its west side, said Green."

"The homestead, which Shaver bough from his brother, John, in 1834, has been empty for about 5 or 6 years, Green added."

The funny thing - and I(a)m being very sarcastic, is the article ends with a comment from the current property owner Gino Toscani of Toscani Developments: "Toscani said he did not know if the structure was the Daniel Shaver House, but the building had been there for probably more than 100 years."

Probably? Did they usually go around in 1850(a)s and put up phoney cornerstones with phony dates on them???

I believe it was deliberate - not arson, and by whom I will not speculate. The property has been receiving too much attention lately, and it was probably not appreciated.