Notice of Application to Repeal Designation By-Law: 21 Peel Street
TAKE NOTICE THAT the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Penetanguishene has received an application to repeal By-law 2025-20 which designates 21 Peel Street as having cultural heritage value or interest under Section 29, Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990. The subject property is legally described as Lot 38 East Side of Peel Street, Plan 36 in the Town of Penetanguishene.
STATEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE VALUE
21 Peel Street is a representative example of a modest interpretation of the Italianate architectural style. While lacking some of the elaborate decoration associated with Italianate architecture, the two-storey rectangular plan building maintains the form and massing associated with the style. 21 Peel Street has a hip roof with a symmetrical façade and is constructed of red brick masonry with a prominent frontispiece containing the façade entrance. The brick masonry, which rests on a random ashlar stone foundation, features protruding brick courses along the corners of the building and frontispiece, above the foundation and along the top of each storey. In the absence of quoins and dichromatic brick typically seen in Italianate buildings, this brick detail accentuates the edges and massing of the structure.
21 Peel Street is associated with Dr. B.T. Gahan, who constructed the house, and George Robinson, a hotel manager who occupied it with his family between 1902 and 1951. Dr. Beresford T. Gahan was a local physician who was born in India in 1844. He moved from Toronto to Penetanguishene where he worked as a doctor and constructed the house at 21 Peel Street in 1882 as a private residence for himself and his family. Dr. Gahan sold the property to a druggist in 1896 and moved to British Columbia. 21 Peel Street was purchased by hotel manager George Robinson in 1902. George Robinson managed The Penetanguishene Summer Hotel, a well-appointed inn constructed in 1889 to cater to Georgian Bay’s summer tourist industry of the late 19th century. The hotel burned down in 1917, and George Robinson became a merchant and tailor. George Robinson was civically minded and served on the Penetanguishene Town Council in 1905 and again in 1915-1916. George Robinson lived in the house at 21 Peel Street until his death in 1948, and his wife Mary and daughter Margaret continued to occupy the property until 1951.
21 Peel Street is important in supporting and maintaining the late 19th/early 20th century character of the historic Town of Penetanguishene. 21 Peel Street is located within a residential block developed in the 19th century. While many residences along Peel Street have been modified, 21 Peel Street’s materials, scale, massing and architectural detailing maintain, contribute and support the legibility and character of Penetanguishene as a historic village.
DESCRIPTION OF HERITAGE ATTRIBUTES
21 Peel Street is a representative example of the Italianate style. The property contains the following heritage attributes that reflect this value:
- Two-storey Italianate building
- Rectangular plan
- Hip roof
- Red brick masonry with projecting courses at corners, above foundation and along
- top of each storey
- Stone foundation
- Projecting frontispiece containing the façade entrance
- Segmentally arched window openings composed of brick laid in header bond
21 Peel Street is associated with Dr. B.T. Gahan, who constructed the house, and George Robinson, a hotel manager who occupied it with his family between 1902 and 1951. The property contains the following heritage attributes that reflect this value:
- Two-storey Italianate house
- Location of Peel Street
21 Peel Street is important in supporting and maintaining the late 19th/early 20th century character of the historic Town of Penetanguishene. The property contains the following heritage attributes that reflect this value:
- Two-storey Italianate building
- Location on Peel Street
- Mortared stone retaining wall with concrete cap
OBJECTION
Any person who objects to the application shall, within 30 days after the date of the publication of this notice, serve on the Clerk of the municipality a notice of objection setting out the reasons for the objection and all relevant facts. Objections may be submitted in writing to the Corporation of the Town of Penetanguishene, 10 Robert Street West, P.O. Box 5009, Penetanguishene, ON L9M 2G2 or by email to kcole@penetanguishene.ca.
The last day to submit an objection is November 22, 2025.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Additional information regarding this matter can be obtained by contacting Owen Taylor, Planner at 705-549-7453 ext. 251 or by email otaylor@penetanguishene.ca.
Dated at the Town of Penetanguishene this 23rd day of October, 2025.
Kelly Cole
Director of Legislative Services/Municipal Clerk