Top left photo: c.2000. Top right photo: pre-restoration 2018. Bottom photo: postrestoration 2019.

Willistead Manor, 1899 Niagara Street (Designated since 1976)

Awarded for: Heritage Conservation

Willistead Manor was built in 1906 and designed by Albert Kahn as a 36-room mansion on 15 acres of land. The Manor was built for the second son of Hiram Walker, Edward Chandler Walker. Willistead was Windsor's first heritage designation in 1976. It is also one of four properties that the City tendered heritage consulting work for. The City of Windsor Facilities Department led this exercise with awarded heritage consultants Goldsmith Borgal & Company (with local partners studio g+G architect, and engineering by Haddad Morgan & Associates Ltd), for a $1.95 million dollar restoration project for Willistead in 2017-2018.

The restoration held to the Standards & Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. The scope of work included cleaning of the masonry using specific chemicals and removal of biological growth and vines. Repairs were made to the masonry in repointing of mortar, crack repairs to the stucco, reinstallation of support to stone cap, installing crack monitors and consolidating cracked decorative flue cap. In addition, rotten and damaged wood was repaired, replaced and painted to protect the surfaces. Extensive repairs were made to the windows through careful cataloguing of each condition, removal, and application of appropriate repair treatment prior to reinstallation. Work on the roofing system included repairs to the copper leaderboxes, replacing some non-copper rain water leaders and brackets with copper, replacing metal flashing and missing shingle, copper cap flashing was added on top of wood hoist beam for protection, securing copper ridge cap opening at joints, replacement of broken or loose clay roof tile and clay eave tile. A major component of this work was to improve