The Shoreacres Estate at 4280 Lakeshore Rd. known as the “Je
wel in the Crown” of Burlington’s waterfront, boasts an 11,000 sq.-ft.-mansion of heritage designation.
The 14-acre public park property includes three other heritage buildings: a gatehouse, a dollhouse and a two-storey barn/stable.
The property has a long historic significance. In 1809, the property was granted by the British Crown, King George III, to Laura Secord, who later went on to become a heroine of the War of 1812, although Laura Secord and her family never settled here. Over the next 100+ years the property changed hands approximately 15 times, including family names of Beaupre, Smith, Purvis, Tilley, Finnamore and Zimmerman who farmed there.
In 1912, it was purchased by William D. Flatt and Cyrus A. Birge and was used by friends and family for swimming, boating and fishing. Birge was known to have hunting parties. The rest of the property continued in use as a tender fruit farm.
Birge was a renowned industrialist and the founding director of the Canadian Steel Company, which later merged to form Stelco in 1910. He had a daughter named Edythe Merriam Birge, she married a man named James John McKay. Birge passed away in 1929 and the property was granted to his daughter, on which there was a farmhouse. It was Edythe who had the grand house built with her inheritance in 1929-31, in the same location of the original farmhouse. With grounds including a pool, tennis, horse riding, and formal gardens, known as “Shoreacres Estate”.
Edythe and James McKay had a daughter named Dorothy, for whom Edythe built the dollhouse. The dollhouse had electricity and running water, where Dorothy enjoyed summer tea parties. Dorothy McKay would marry Dr. Wallace McNichol. James 
McKay passed away in 1959 and in 1960 Edythe passed away leaving the estate to Dorothy McNichol. This is why it was known for years as the “McNichol Mansion/Estate”. The McNichols maintained the estate as a summer residence. Upon Dorothy’s death in 1987, the home was left to her five children.
The children sold the property to the City of Burlington in 1990. By that time it was all boarded up and in disrepair. Eventually with a generous financial donation by the Paletta family, restoration on the mansion began in April 2000, thus naming the property “Paletta Lakefront Park and Mansion”.
The public park remains a beautiful location for people to enjoy their daily walk or a gentle stroll to admire the gardens, catch a glimpse of the dollhouse and stables.
Shoreacres Creek runs through the property and there are two bridge crossings where a beaver has been known to take up residence. Birdwatchers maintain this is one of the best spots. The mansion is available to rent for weddings, corporate events, banquet facilities.
Truly a jewel in the crown.
