The Town of Whitby has passed By-law 8258-26 to designate the Graydon Goodfellow House at 618 Athol Street, as a heritage property under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. This property is an important part of Whitby’s cultural heritage.
The property is legally described as Part of Lot 23 and Part of Lot 24, 6th Double Range, Plan H-50031, on the west side of Athol Street, at the northwest corner of Athol Street and Trent Street East.
The house colloquially known as The “Hardy Boys House” as it had been rented to Leslie McFarlane (original author of the Hardy Boys books under pen name ‘Franklin W. Dixon’), for an 11 month period. The lease was entered into on September 2nd, 1936, as the below excerpt for that date from McFarlane’s diary indicates:
“Looked at Whitby houses this morning, found a good one and signed up for it for 11 months.”
The McFarlane family moved in on October 1st, 1936, as this diary indicates.
Leslie McFarlane wrote at least one of the Hardy Boys books “A Figure in Hiding”, at 618 Athol Street. He wrote, in his diary, on October 12th:
“Mailed out my story and a lot of letters but got no mail myself other than a copy of ‘The Sinister Sign Post’, the latest Hardy Boys book. Then began work on the new Hardy tome [‘A Figure in Hiding’].”
The designation does not preclude any changes that may be deemed necessary for the efficient use of the building provided that any changes shall be in keeping with the current character of the building and shall be carried out in accordance with the applicable Heritage Permit processes at the Town of Whitby.
Any Notice of Appeal on council’s decision must be filed with the Town Clerk by 4:30 pm on March 6th, 2026.