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Thomas Hamill, a Thornhill carpenter, built this double house c. 1850 (37 and 39 Colbourne) probably to serve as rental housing for workers employed in nearby mills on the Don River. There is a legend that part of the building was used as a rope factory, and the other part as a home. Divided into two properties at an unknown date.
The low one and a half storey roughcast stucco finish and simple design of this building are typical features of tradesmen dwellings in old Ontario mill villages such as Thornhill. The easterly half of the house is now sided in wood drop clapboard. Few of the historical homes in the area retain so much of their original character.
These exceptionally well preserved dwellings, though modest in scale, are ornamented with Classic Revival door surrounds and peaked windows heads. Note the similarity between the decorative treatment around the front doors and a fireplace mantle. The balanced arrangement of the facades, with a centre door flanked by a pair of windows, is characteristic of the Georgian style of many local buildings dating from the mid 19th century. The village like setting of this pair of houses is enhanced with a traditional white picket fence.
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