Matheson House, history museum and national historic site in Perth, Ontario, Canada
Matheson House is a two-storey, five-bay sandstone house of Palladian-inspired design, built in 1840 for Roderick Matheson. Its symmetrical front has a central entrance, and the property is enclosed by a stone garden wall. It now serves as the Perth Museum.
The house was built in 1840 for Roderick Matheson, a Scottish merchant who served in the War of 1812 and was elected to Canada's first legislative council. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1966 to honor its importance to Canadian history.
The house bears the Matheson family name, who lived there for nearly a century and shaped Perth's development. The rooms display how affluent families lived in the 1840s, with formal reception spaces and carefully designed interiors that still reflect the social customs of that era.
Matheson House stands on Gore Street East in downtown Perth and is now the Perth Museum. The two-storey sandstone building is entered from the street; the ground floor rooms can be visited without climbing stairs. Allow time to walk the stone garden wall and courtyard.
The house passed to Arthur James Matheson, a lawyer and member of Ontario's Legislative Assembly, after Roderick Matheson died in 1873. It later changed hands several times before the municipality bought it and opened the Perth Museum inside. The building received its National Historic Site designation in 1966.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,262 contributors worldwide.
