The Erchless Estate at the mouth of Oakville’s Sixteen Mile Creek dates back to the 19th century but it wasn’t until the early ‘90s that the main house was renovated into the Oakville Museum. In 1997, George Robb Architect was retained to stabilize and convert the 1896 Coach House for use as a temporary storage area for the museum’s collection. We also made provisions for the future conversion of the building into an interpretive centre for the museum. The arts and crafts building contained a coachman’s apartment, a carriage house and stable with three stalls and a wash stall. With the exception of conversion of the carriage area to garage, the rest was remarkably intact.

Structural engineer James Knight was retained to confirm stability of the structure, establish load-bearing capacity and make stabilization recommendations. The project restored the carriage house to its original configuration by replicating the north and south walls as shown in the original drawing. Stable interiors were protected for further interpretation. The ground floor of the garage and stable provided storage for the museum’s collection and consequently, improvements were made to the thermal and moisture transmission characteristics of the walls and ceilings. A new HVAC system for the interior environment was provided and wiring systems were upgraded. Ultimately, when converted into an interpretative centre, the replicated original carriage house doors will slide open, revealing a large window illuminating the classroom beyond while providing a panoramic view of the site.