The route from Toronto to 1 Banfield St. in Paris, Ont., takes the driver some 108 kilometres .
.. and 175 years back in time.
The 1 Banfield residence, just put on the market by Toronto entrepreneur, philanthropist and art collector for a price of $4,895,000 is a slice of the Brant County municipality’s past. Built in the mid-1800s for , an industrialist, an early mayor and a reeve of Paris, the property has been lovingly restored and renovated to make it comfortable for a 21st-century occupant, mixing the old and the new in striking fashion. The home is located up the hill from Paris’ bustling downtown.
The town, which has a population of about 15,000, sits along on the shores of the in . It was founded in 1829 from a settlement originally known as the Forks of the Grand River and incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1855. It was named for the deposits of gypsum in the valley, which were used to manufacture Plaster of Paris for fertilizer used in this agricultural region.
Whitlaw, the home’s original owner, was an industrialist who moved to Paris in 1845 to establish a flour mill and a general store with partner James Tilney. He later purchased the New Paris Mills, Canada’s largest at the time, and was active in politics, the Congregational Church and as a philanthropist. At the time of his death, he was head of the extensive firm of Whitlaw, Baird & Co.
, Merchants, Millers and Grain Dealers, Insurance Agents etc. When Bachir first visited 1 Banfield, he had no re.