Bellevue House in Amherstburg up for sale at nearly $2M

The Bellevue House, one of Amherstburg's most historic properties, is back on the market.

The house is nearly 200 years old and connected to the war of 1812.

• Historic Bellevue House damaged during tree removal

A numbered company currently owns the property and is listed for nearly $2 million.

It is one of the few remaining examples of Georgian architecture in Ontario, according to the National Trust for Canada.

According to the trust's website:

"It was built in 1816-1819 by Robert Reynolds, the Commissary to the nearby British garrison at Fort Malden, after he returned from serving in the War of 1812."

Reynolds lived there with family, including his sister Catherine Reynolds, the artist whose landscape paintings provide records of early 19th-century life in Upper Canada, according to National Trust of Canada."

Bellevue House was declared a National Historic Site in 1959, and three years later wasselected for an OntarioHeritage Trust plaque.

Neglecting the Bellevue

Robert Honor says Bellevue has fallen into disrepair and now that it's back on the market he wants the municipality to help save it.

"They put it up for sale and they get a new realtor. They go through the whole process and then they sit on it for a few more years," he said. "They put it up for sale, get a new realtor, go through the process and all the time the building is suffering neglect."

Honor wants somebody to step in and get the property into "some kind of responsible ownership where it can be used for some kind of public benefit."

Town administration is worried the building could be lost, but has not yet suggested what, if anything, council should do.

"The present home has been neglected since the home was acquired by the present owners in 2001," according to a report going to Amherstburg council. "Should no action be taken by the current owners or the town, the property may be lost as a heritage and cultural asset.'

Honor will speak at town council Tuesday night. He says Bellevue has both culture and architectural significance.