The Burr House

In 1820 Rowland Burr, a local carpenter and millwright, built the original four-room stuccoed Ontario cottage of plank-on-plank construction. He later added a blacksmith's shop.  In 1836, the house was sold to Samuel Sanderson and then in 1844 to Thomas Boothby. Both Sanderson and Boothby ran blacksmith businesses on the property. In 1851, Boothby added three brick rooms, including a large kitchen with cooking fireplace and bake oven. In 1872, the Boothbys sold the house, which was passed through a number of owners until George Wood bought it and lived there from 1897 until the late 1960's.  At that time, Cadillac Baif bought the land for a subdivision.

In 1973 the newly formed Richmond Hill Historical Society urged the Town to acquire the Burr House. The Burr House was renovated by the Historical Society, and remains on the original site, at 528 Carrville Road, now known as Woods Park. For several years, they operated the house as a working craft house for the demonstration and teaching of handcrafts and pioneer household activities. The building also served as a local museum and later as a craft and gift shop. During this time, Burr House became the home of the Hill Potters' Guild and the Richmond Hill Spinners and Weavers Guild, which was made up of students of Burr House Craft classes.

The Burr House Craft Gallery and Tea Room

In 1984, the Richmond Hill Spinners & Weavers, the Hill Potters' Guild, and the Historical society formed a partnership that jointly took over the operation of the Burr House, converting it into the Burr House Craft Gallery and Tea Room.

In 1990, the Keefer Small House, a summer kitchen/woodshed was added on to the Burr House to provide a new entrance for it's current use as the Burr House Craft Gallery and Tea Room. The gallery now showcases fine arts and crafts by local artists and is jointly operated by volunteers from the two guilds.