Back in mid-October, I took some pictures of the Sheppard House. When we arrived, it was clear that a lot had changed since our last visit. The house was surrounded by scaffolding, information signs had been placed around the property, and several trees had been cut down.

Sheppard House is a beautiful three-story, 5,000 sq ft building surrounded by a scenic conservation area. In 1972, the Sheppard family generously donated the property to the Ontario Heritage Trust. Currently, the property is managed through a joint agreement by the Town of Aurora, the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, and the Ontario Heritage Trust.

Today, Sheppard House serves as the home of the Windfall Ecology Centre, operated under a long-term agreement with the Centre.

So, what’s happening with the renovations?

The Sheppard House is undergoing a significant renovation, but it’s more than just a typical facelift. Back in 2008, the Ontario Trillium Foundation approved over $100,000 in capital grants for the Windfall Ecology Centre to carry out a heritage retrofit on the building. This retrofit is aimed at preserving the house’s historic features while potentially reducing its energy use by up to 75%.

The goal of these renovations? While I won’t repeat the details, the Windfall Ecology Centre website sums it up perfectly.

“Our approach to creating a culture of conservation must bring us to a mindset where renovation, rehabilitation and recycling are the norm. Architecture is long-term infrastructure that must be retained for centuries, not a commodity to be discarded within a generation.

There is a pervasive perception among heritage building owners and operators that heritage preservation and energy conservation are mutually exclusive objectives. This dichotomy of thought poses a major barrier to the establishment of a culture of energy conservation within the community of very old-home owners and operators.”

Read on…

“We must find ways to use modern technology in harmony with heritage buildings or many of our prize heritage structures will be left neglected. They will be too expensive to operate and too carbon-intensive to justify habitation in this new era of carbon constraint.

The Conserve and Preserve project will demonstrate that dramatic reductions in energy use can be achieved while maintaining the cultural heritage integrity of a heritage structure. This will be accomplished through innovative project design and delivery mechanism, which incorporates an actual heritage renovation as part of the education workshop component.”

I think this is a great initiative, one that reaches out to heritage building owners, and it’s happening right here in Aurora. I look forward to coming back one of these days to check out the progress.