Randwood Estate OLT

Randwood is a large property on the edge of the town, overlooking the historic Commons. The subject lands form the grounds of a rural estate that was designed in the early 20th century by the renowned Canadian landscape architecture firm of Dunnington-Grubb. Half of the property contains the main house and grounds: the other half was a hobby farm. Landscape elements in the two parts showed influences of the Picturesque and Beaux Arts in formal and informal designs. Although the property ceased functioning as an estate in the mid-20th century, much of the designed landscape was intact until the property was sold to a developer who began the process of developing the farm and removing this landscape. The Town opposed this activity and hired a consulting team to prepare a case for the conservation and compatible development of the surviving cultural heritage resources. In his role as a cultural heritage landscape expert, Carl Bray was retained to help prepare an inventory and evaluation of the entire estate landscape and, specifically, to determine the original design intent of the farm portion. Research included site visits as well as the review of historical aerial photographs and of a wide range of archival materials. The developer appealed the planning application to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) and Dr. Bray provided material that supported the expert evidence presented by team members. After delays caused by the pandemic, the OLT hearing commenced and the Tribunal ultimately decided in favour of the Town and rejected the appeal.