The house was built in Scarborough Village facing onto Markham Road just north of Eglinton Avenue East. Near the railway track, it was threatened with demolition to make way for an overpass in 1961.
The Scarborough Historical Society and local Lions Clubs rallied, raising funds and community support to move the building to the newly established Thomson Memorial Park as a community museum. The museum is now part of the City of Toronto, Culture Division.
Constructed in 1858, the Cornell House was originally home to Charles Cornell, his wife Matilda and their eight children. Charles father, William Cornell, came to Scarborough from Rhode Island in 1799. William Cornell built the township’s first sawmill at Highland Creek and along with Levi Annis, cut the ‘Front’ road along the lake about 1801. Known as the ‘Cornwell Road’, it was improved and straightened in 1817 and renamed Kingston Road.
Charles’ youngest daughter, Matilda, inherited the house in 1887. She lived there with her mother and older brother Fred who operated a small orchard and market garden. In 1944 William and Frances Lye purchased the house operating the Lye Organ and Piano Works until 1961 when the property was expropriated for a new railway bridge.
As part of the Scarborough Museum the Cornell House offers a look at rural village life circa 1914.