Motherhouses are the administrative headquarters for Catholic religious orders, both male and female alike. In Ontario, the properties on which they were located were often vast, with trees, lawns and open spaces, long driveways, cemeteries, as well as other buildings such as the novitiate, a home for retirees or the infirm, and/or schools in which members taught. Both the built form and the physical environment allowed members of these orders to live out their vocation according to their rules, routines, and traditions. But what happens to these buildings and their properties when they no longer serve their original use?
Based in part on my dissertation research and in part on my work in Ontario’s cultural heritage sector, this paper will explore the choice of location, organizational layout, and architectural features of four motherhouse properties from two religious teaching orders in Southern Ontario – two each from the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of St. Joseph. These buildings and their surrounding properties, located in Scarborough, Aurora, Hamilton, and North York, also provide a lens into the concept of adaptive reuse. The paper will delve into what happened to each of these sites, and why or why not adaptive reuse came into play. It will conclude by offering ideas for how adaptive reuse can best be applied to motherhouse properties in the future so that they retain their cultural heritage value.
