By Cathy Dobson for the Sarnia Observer
(2009) “When you live in these big old buildings, you become a part of the past,” says Lynne Brogden, looking up at the 12-foot ceilings of the art gallery she operates at 251 Vidal Street North.
“The feeling inside this space is glorious,” she said. “I’ve never been in another building like it.”
In 1989 Lynn and her husband Al Brogden were scouting around for a larger office for his electrical engineering company. They were drawn to the grand historic building at the corner of Charlotte and Vidal streets, built in 1874 by Michael Fleming, an agent of the Montreal telegraph company and later a Sarnia mayor. The house originally featured a flat slate roof, ornate porch pillars and a ballroom on the third floor. The slate is long since gone and the ballroom is now gallery and office space but the house still has enough historical significance to warrant official designation.
It was built in a high Victorian style with a unique blend of French second empire architecture and Italianate round-headed windows. There’s likely no other house like it in Sarnia, notes the city’s historic records.
“The quality of detailing and workmanship throughout the structure is excellent,” it reads. “The wrought iron fence (still there) is one of the last of its type in Sarnia.”
Fleming came to Sarnia in 1859 and became a prominent businessman, the manager of the Lambton Loan, Canada’s first trust company, and mayor for four terms. He died at the age of 51. Years later, in 1919, the Christian Science Society bought the house for $7,500, according to Lynn Brogden. The building was remodeled for use as the First Church of Christ Scientist Sarnia. The ballroom was converted into an auditorium where services were held but the exterior was largely unchanged.
In March 1989, the house was officially designated under the Ontario Heritage Act for its unique architecture, its bellcast mansard roof, window detail, entrance portico, brickwork and masonry.
The Brogdens say they have taken care to maintain the historically significant features, even hiring a stonemason to repair the sandstone blocks along the iron fencing. They love the building’s detail, the moulded fascia, elaborate roof trim and even a decorated frieze with the centre bay window.
“When this building was built, labour cost nothing,” Al noted. “So a great deal of labour-intensive work was possible and more money was put into the materials.
“I like the marble fireplaces, the ornate radiator covers, the mouldings around the ceiling fixtures.”
“It’s also a very useful building,” his wife added. “We can move a lot around in such a big space.”