Thursday, May 28, 2020

Gothic Revival Cottages

As I explored Nelson Street here, the road I ride down most frequently, I realized this spring that there were 5 small original farm cottages, in among some 30 houses altogether, in a style labelled 'Gothic Revival'.  This was the most common style of residential houses for 100 years, right up until 1950 here in Ontario.  Let me explain.

Straight down at the end of the street is this house which illustrates the style, a door in the centre with two downstairs windows, and a small door into the attic.  In this case there's also a wide front porch.  Now see if you think these five houses have a similar style.

This house also has a decorative 'finial' at the peak oft the roof and nice stone caps over the windows and this tiny attic door.

And if you look around the side you'll see there are two symmetrical windows both upstairs and down.  It was actually a lower tax rate that inspired the story and a half design in the late 1800s, because with this you got a lower tax rate, even though there was still usable space upstairs for bedrooms.

This is another house, right across the corner, though this one has an attic window rather than a door.  But it also has the stone window caps, and the front door side panels, just like the first one.

 A close look at the front door which has the same side panels and glass over head as the first house.  You can see there used to be a porch roof here, though today's porch needs a little work!

A third nearby house is the same style - dormer in the roof, centre door with symmetrical front windows.  In this case there's a central porch with the top serving as a balcony, as well as a tiny triangular window over the upstairs attic window, a common feature in these houses.

There's also a one-floor extension out behind.  This was part of the original design of these houses and was used for the kitchen, washroom (if there was one in the original house) and wood storage, as all these houses would have had wood stoves.  You can also see the decorative corner stone work, common to  many of these homes, sometimes done in brick rather than stone, and now often painted.

A closer look makes me think that this is an attic door, rather than a window, opening onto the porch roof.  As well there's another decorative finial, his one just hanging down from the peak of the roof.

A fourth house nearby is similar, but has a different style of attic dormer which makes a big difference in its appearance.

However, this house is the only one that still has the decorative 'gingerboard' under the dormer, and at the tops of the porch pillars.

The last house of the five is further east down the street and you can easily see the similarity.  It has the peaked attic dormer, in this case with a triangular top, and the symmetrical door and windows downstairs.  In this case the window and door caps are made of brick.

Hope you enjoyed this tour of five 'gothic revival' cottages here in Meaford.


18 comments:

  1. The attic doors, and no safe place if it is opened? Maybe to let fresh air in? They are all so interesting, and built to last.

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  2. Such lovely looking homes! A great way to tour the neighbourhood.

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  3. This is one of my favourite styles of homes and I'm always so happy to spot one around the city.

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  4. Nice to see, thank you.

    All the best Jan

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  5. Neat old houses. Strange to see a door up there but then realized it must once have opened up onto a porch.

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  6. I spent part of my life in a house like the last on your list. It was built by an ancestral cousin of my fathers. My brother still lives there. My building contractor nephew gutted out the back addition and did an amazing kitchen. He features the old beams and sheathing boards on his webpage. Some of the old boards had names written on them. My brother has them framed on the wall. My cousin tells me this builder constructed over 40 houses in the city of Peterborough over 100 years ago.

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  7. They're beautiful, there are houses of the same design where our son and his family live and a few (very few) down here in Pennsylvania.

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  8. Yes, I see the similarity. I see an occasional house like this, but did not know what style it was called, an had not thought about trying to look it up.

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  9. People cared a bit more about style in those days. To my eye these look so much better when the porches and balconies have been retained intact.

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  10. Very pretty building style but why a door in the attic roof?

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  11. That was ineresting and I will view such architecture in the future with a keener eye.

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  12. So representative of much of small town Ontario.

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  13. That was an interesting tour! Thank you, they are beautiful!

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  14. I love seeing that pretty "gingerbread" on the attics. Nice pictures! I hope you got to take them yourself, meaning that you are getting more mobile.

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  15. Down in southwest Missouri my husband's grandparent's home has a similar design.

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  16. I spent the first 15 years of my life in that style of house but it was made of wood and siding. Our attic was above the rear kitchen area. That house still stands in Tavistock today but looks radically different after a fire destroyed the top section years ago. Nice for you to have those older architectural houses nearby.

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  17. What folks won't do to save on taxes!

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  18. i started to read friday's post and realized that i would need to read this one first. this is so interesting...i really enjoy seeing/reading about these period homes. i wonder about those upper doors, what if someone opened it?? where exactly would they go?? they are "cute", i like the one with the green roof!!!

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