Holyrood House, Oakville, Property Maps
Description
- Media Type
- Image
- Text
- Item Type
- Drawings
- Description
- Two maps of the Holyrood House estate; the main record map shows it as it was in the 1930's, the page two map as it was in the 1940's and 1950's. The original Holyrood Estate was 15 to 17 acres of land on Lake Ontario of bush, field, apple orchard and open space. It was the last property on the south side of Lakeshore Road West (Highway 2) in the Town of Oakville, at the foot of Dorval Drive.
The house had a three car garage with an apartment above for estate staff personnel. Along the driveway was a greenhouse with an attached potting shed. The potting shed had a coal furnace which allowed flowers and plants to be grown year round. All the Oakville estates grew their own vegetables, some of these gardens were very large. Some grew raspberries and strawberries, Holyrood had a Spy apple orchard.
There was a lattice enclosed area with a tool shed, clothes drying lines and firewood storage.
Next to the swimming pool were "his" and "her" change quarters with showers and facilities. A guest bunkhouse was attached. The tennis court was complete with a practise board. The veranda overlooking the lake was enclosed to make a large sleeping and relaxing area.
This information is courtesy of Roy Lessels who was born in Holyrood house on February 13, 1930. His father, Jack Lessels was the head groundskeeper and was living in the quarters over the garage with his pregnant wife, Alice. Mrs. Lefebvre thought Alice would be more comfortable during the birth in the main house so Roy was born in the spare guest bedroom. In early 1931, a cottage was completed for the Lessels family, on the east side of the property. Jack, Alice and Roy welcomed baby Alistair into their family within a few years and lived in the Holyrood cottage until 1954. - Notes
- Information and photographs of Holyrood house, the Lefebvre family and the history of the property in the Trafalgar Township Historical Society digital collection were shared by Mr. Roy Lessels in May 2016. Roy's father was head grounds keeper for the estate from 1929 to 1945, in the employ of Gordon Lefebvre, and again from 1955-1969 for David Knapp. The images with notes remain the property of Mr. Lessels.
The "Groups of Related Records" link will take you to the other records, maps of the property and photographs of the estate people in Mr. Lessels photo album. In particular, compare these property maps to the aerial photographs in the collection. - Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Alice Lessels, d.age 99, 11 months, 14 days, married John (called Jack) Lessels, b.1902, d.March 5, 1986, age 84. Son John Roy (called Roy), b. February 13, 1930, married Joyce. (He worked for Rubbermaid for many years, Joyce worked for Oakville dentist, John McLennan.) Son Alistair Anderson, b.January 27, 1932 (in Edinburgh, Scotland), married Diane Hammer in March 1964, d.July 29, 2014. (He had a real estate brokerage in Collingwood.) Harry, brother of Jack Lessels, d.August 19, 1990. )
- Local identifier
- TTJRL000500
- Collection
- Trafalgar Township Historical Society
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Recommended Citation
- Holyrood House, Oakville, Property Maps
- Contact
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Trafalgar Township Historical Society Sponsor: Jeff Knoll, Local & Regional Councillor for Oakville Ward 5 – Town of Oakville/Regional Municipality of Halton
