March 14, 2026

On the east end of Cobourg stand the remains of a mansion that has a long history but is currently falling into disrepair even though it has been designated as an historic site. The property had been in the hands of several different families before it was appropriated by the government in 1944. The 1876 county atlas below shows the site of the Winch property outlined in green. The building circled on the top of the property is the stables seen below and the one just below it is the Winch Cottage.

The mansion on the property is known as Strathmore Hall. In 1878 Winch sold thirty acres of the property to local judge George M. Clark. The judge was a friend of Sir John A. Macdonald, the Prime Minister of Canada and he built the mansion that still stands on the property. The image below shows the property between 1902 and 1915.

Clark owned the property until 1902 when it was sold to Charles Donnelly. The house stayed in the family until 1915 when it was sold again. It changed hands yet again in 1918 when Stephen Haas bought it for $28,000 to use as a summer home.

The house has been reviewed by the town of Cobourg with intention to designate it as a heritage property. Design features that contribute to the heritage value of the property include the large enclosed portico with the bulls eye window above. The Tuscan styled columns are another key design element.

On the west end of the building is a “Porte Cochere” where horse and carriage would have discharged passengers to allow them to alight without being rained on.

in 1944 the home and 32 acres surrounding it were expropriated by the provincial government to create a training school for girls. This was later turned into The Brookside Detention Centre for boys. In 2021 it was closed and the property sold to a developer. Several buildings that were added for the Brookside Detention Centre have already been demolished leaving just the three buildings in this story.

The Winch cottage was built in the early-19th century for the Richard Winch whose name appears on this property in the 1876 County Atlas image above. Winch was a cattle trader who sold his property to Judge George M. Clark. The original cottage was expanded in the 1970s to become the residence and main office for the Brookside Training School’s head psychiatrist.

The Cottesmore Stables were deigned in the Richardson Romanesque style along with the mansion Cottesmore Hall. The residence was demolished in 1974 to make room for new buildings for the detention centre. The stables were designed with double gables and flared buttresses which were common to the Arts and Crafts architectural style. The original entrance to the courtyard, between the two gables, has been bricked in.

The ultimate fate of these three historical buildings remains to be seen but hopefully they will be preserved in the new development.

Google Maps Link: Strathmore House Cobourg

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