Built: 1865
Location: 15 Main Street
Thomas Kenny and his son, James, constructed this fine building along Main Street on property purchased from Benjamin Tett. Originally an inn on this busy thoroughfare, it is said that Sir John A. MacDonald stayed here overnight. George Bolton bought the building for his private residence in 1887 and it remained in the family until the 1990s. Harken to the echo of horse and harness enroute to where Main Street once turned and bridged the Rideau Canal. Imagine the whistle of the B. & W. arriving on the nearby railway track. Imagine the smell of wood-fired steamers on the Canal and the aroma of apples being processed in the cannery at the end of Main Street.
A century-and-a-half after construction, the “Dominion House” still contains an interesting and authentic example of a semi-elliptical or fan-tailed neo-classic (Loyalist) door. Such portals were popular in houses built during the latter half of the 19th century. But this Adamesque entrance is unique. Over one hundred similar designs have been recorded in the area but only four such doorways are identical.