Building date: 1844
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Map views courtesy Google Maps. Address is Google Earth confirmed; 43°11'46.56"N 80°23'02.67"W.
City of Paris and Brant County Maps.
Editor's Note: Structure is referred to first as Hamilton Court and Hamilton Place as of 1900.
Entrepreneur William Hamilton arrived in Paris in 1831 where he established plaster and grist mills, owned large tracts of land and a distillery from where he recycled the mash to the contented pigs which, in turn went happily to his pork packing factory. By 1839, Hamilton decided to engage American architect Andrew Minny to design a stately Greek Revival house high on the bank of the Grand River overlooking the valley.
Boughton was in charge of the build. Canopies were set up on the property under which piles of cobbles were dumped for careful sorting. By 1844 the house was ready for the Hamilton family. On the lintel over the front door is carved the date 1844, the date when Hillside was finished.
A short time after the house was built Hamilton added a wing on the northeast side of the house which blended with the original structure. Informal living rooms filled this space.
Elizabeth, the Hamilton's only child, married Paul Wickson, an artist whose studio was the belvedere. Elizabeth inherited Hillside and, in 1900, changed the name to Hamilton Place. In 1950, the home left the Hamilton lineage. A low cobblestone wall extended across the width of the property along the street. Richard Palmer blog.
Cobblestones of Paris, by Paris Museum and Historical Society. Portion of pamphlet that applies to the Hamilton Court [Hamilton Place].
County of Brant Heritage Driving Tour, page 15: Hamilton Place, 1844 (Designated)
Hamilton Place, County of Brant Public Library Digital Collections
Restoring heritage one cobblestone at a time", by Vincent Ball, The Expositor (Brantford, Ontario, Canada), July 21, 2020.
- "Cobblestone Masonry", 1966, Carl Schmidt: Name reference, Hamilton - Patterson House
- Page 225, Page 254
¹ Photography courtesy Martin and Sheila Wolfish.
² Photography courtesy Richard Palmer.
