Plan 125 is the Ghent Survey, registered in 1909. In 1909 William Ghent sold Lot 3 & other land (the Ghent Farm) to Edward Harman.
The 1917 and 1918 Telephone Directories list Ed Harman, Fruit (grower), on Brant Street; he lived in the Bray – Ghent House, “Maple Lodge”, now at 795 Brant Street.
The 1919 Voters List includes E. J. Harmon [sic], E. Harmon, and John Harmon, all Gardeners, at part lot 85, Brant Street.
In 1919 Harmon sold this property to John West & his wife. Mrs J. West, as listed in the 1919 Voters List at part lot 84, Brant Street. By 1922, Ed Harmon is listed in the Telephone Directory as living on New Street, and Ned Harmon on Burlington Avenue.
John West took mortgages in 1921 & 1922, probably to build this house. In 1927 it was bought by Walter Scott Powers & wife; in 1932 by Earl Carter Thomas; in 1955 part of the lot was bought by Fred Whiskin.
William Ghent registered his development survey plan in 1909, when he sold the Ghent Farm including its historic ‘Maple Lodge” homestead, built in 1854 (now 795 Brant Street), to the Edward Harmon family. The Harmons continued their hit growing business through 1914/15, when this rural land was annexed by the Town of Burlington, until 1919, when they sold this Lot 3 to John and Elizabeth West, who were also farmers on Brant Street. The West’s built this house in 1921. In 1932 the property was sold to Ear1 Carter Thomas, a nursery grower. It remained in the Thomas family’s ownership for more than sixty years, when it was bought by a developer who subdivided the property, preserved this heritage house, and sold it to the present owners.
This large one-and-a-half-storey bungalow is a very fine example of the Craftsman Style. The high-pitch end-gabled roof is broken by a large gabled dormer. The decorative exposed rafter were individually cut by hand. The side gables, the front dormer gable, and a band under the eaves of the front elevation are all clad with wooden shingles. A tall brick chimney rises from the fireplace. There are many original interior Craftsman Style features. The lower level is clad with stretcher-bond brick. The windows on the front elevation are in groups of five or for, the east elevation includes an oriel window.
In the contemporary residential streetscape of Ghent Avenue, the West/Thomas House is a valuable landmark reminder of the farming origins of this area. The house is set on a deep lot with many vestiges of its former nursery garden use: many varieties of Euonymus wild roses and other perennials, continue to thrive on the fertile ground.
