“Ontario Architecture”, by John Blumenson

Blumenson, John. Ontario Architecture: a Guide to Styles and Building Terms, 1784 to the Present. [Canada]: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1990. Print.

I happened upon this book at the local library, hoping that it would answer for me a question I’ve had for a while about houses I think of as a peculiarly Ontario type – a one-and-a-half storey house with a steep gable over the front door.  This book is subtitled “A Guide to Styles and Building Terms 1784 to the present”, and it does indeed cover a huge range of styles of houses and other buildings.

There are tons of black-and-white photos throughout the book, which means that each of the 27 identified styles can be illustrated by half-a-dozen or buildings – useful for beginners like me who don’t necessarily see which elements of a single example are the keys to the style.  Well-known buildings have been excluded, and I enjoyed the emphasis on buildings that I could imagine owning and living in, rather than museum pieces.

An interesting highlight for me was recognizing my old high school.  I suspect that most Ontarians will have the same jolt of recognition – plenty of houses from all kinds of towns are pictured, from Leamington to Maitland to Sault Ste. Marie.  There are also a few quirky buildings such as gas stations and a water-treatment plant, providing variety from houses and public buildings.

Most houses pictured are in good repair, so there was little of the flinching that I feel when I see an old house that appears to have fallen on hard times.  When a house shows a mish-mash of styles, such as Neoclassical door in an otherwise Gothic Revival house, the author seems to delight in how builders of yore put together elements they liked, rather than deploring the lack of purity of style.

The index is comprehensive and there is a three-page bibliography for further reading.