10. The Loyalist: Ontario Cottage

In ‘Ontario’, many people who couldn’t afford the larger Georgian built the Loyalist Ontario Cottage to replace their original cabin or stone cottage.

A ridiculous law of the day charged far more for a 2-story house than a cottage, so many people disguised their house as a cottage. I frequently have great difficulty deciding whether a building is an Ontario Cottage or an Ontario House!

What to look for (clues)

• A small, plain, symmetrical house whose central small gable breaks the roof line. A little, often half-moon shape, may appear within this gable.

• Building is 1 to 1 ½ storys with the long side facing the road.

• Verandahs or small uncovered porches may or may not be present.

• Main story windows larger than earlier models. The roof has a shallow incline.

• The entryway may possess glass squares above, and possibly beside the door, for interior light.

Where to find it

This style was popular in both the country and city. Many people later expanded the cottage and added decorative elements that are commonly found in Gothic Revival homes.

The main picture is from Prescott.

Brantford has so many Loyalist Cottages (albeit with a larger central gable) that they dubbed them the Brantford Cottages. (The two other pictures are from Brantford.) I'm not sure what Stratford thinks because they have many similar homes.

(The Loyalist-Ontario House will appear as a later style.)

The Loyalist Ontario Cottage and House sometimes fall under the ‘umbrella’ of ‘Neoclassic’ which was attached to homes that evolved from the Georgian.