Regency Cottage, 1830-1860 – This style originated in England in 1815 and spread to Ontario later in the 19th century as British officers retired to Canada. It is a modest one-story house with a low-pitched hip roof and has a symmetrical front facade.
Regency Style, 1811-1820: Numerous towns and cities enjoy elegant rows of terraced houses built in what is now called the Regency Style. Windows are tall and thin, with very small glazing bars separating the panes of glass. Balconies are of extremely fine ironwork, made of such delicate curves as to seem almost too frail to support the structure. Proportions are kept simple, relying on clean, classical lines for effect rather than decorative touches. Windows and doors, particularly those on the ground floors, are often round-headed. Curved bow windows are popular, and detached villas often featured garden windows extending right down to the ground.
Ontario Cottage – one or one-and-a-half story buildings with a cottage or hip roof. The cottage roof is an equal hip roof where each hip extends to a point in the center of the roof. The hip roof has a long hip in the center. The Ontario Cottage is the vernacular design of the Regency Cottage which generally has a more ornate doorway and a partial or full verandah surrounding it. The roof can have a dormer, a belvedere, and generally two chimneys.
New Hamburg Book 1 – 244 Peel Street – Gothic Regency CottagePreston – King Street – Ontario Cottage – cement window hoodsCayuga – 2 Talbot Street – Regency CottageCobourg Book 1 – 212 King Street West – This Ontario cottage was the birthplace of Oscar-winning Hollywood actress Marie Dressler. Completely restored, it now serves as Cobourg Tourist Office. Memorabilia from Marie Dressler’s career and video clips from her movies are on display. Built in 1833, the cottage was of simple design, with two rooms off each side of a central hallway. It had embellishments suited to a family of means, such as high ceilings, large windows, impressive moldings and an elaborate front door. Dressler was a youngster who had a dream of being on the stage; she dared to follow that dream, and persisted in the development of her craft, through times of success and failure. At an age when most stars are long forgotten by Hollywood producers, Dressler reached the pinnacle of her career.Colborne – 7 King Street West – c. 1830 – In 1846, Cuthbert Cumming and his wife Jane McMurray, acquired a portion of this two-acre property, and the balance in 1852. Cumming was born in Scotland and after working in the Canadian west and Quebec, he retired as a Chief Trader for the Hudson Bay Company. He remained in Colborne for many years, listed in the census records as a “gentleman” until his demise in 1870. The front elevation of this classic Regency Cottage with its low profile and deep roof overhang hides a secret. There are actually five levels, including a stone basement that housed the kitchen and servants in the mid-19th century.Inglewood – 53 McKenzie Street – Mill Worker’s Cottage – mid 1880s – This 1½ story frame Ontario Cottage is built with a center entry, steep center gable and Gothic window in a style known locally as Rural Gothic or Carpenter’s Gothic. In 1905, Jacob Sithes purchased the house from mill owner David Graham.Burford Book 1 – 110 King Street – Dr. Hervey Ross House – 1851 – It is usually called “The Miller House” and is a rare example of a Regency winged temple building. It is called a “winged plan” because it has a one and a half story central body with flanking one-story wings. Decorative features are fancy verge board along the front gable and French casement style windows.Burford Book 1 – 133 King Street – Regency CottageBurford Book 1 – 140 King Street – Regency CottageTerra Cotta – 206 King Street – Blacksmith’s House – late 1870s – This 1½ story frame Ontario Cottage was likely built by William Wright and features a center gable Gothic window, center entry and full front veranda. In 1881, it was sold to the first of several blacksmiths starting with James Carroll, then Robert Gibson in 1900, followed by William G. Marshall in 1908. Gibson and Marshall likely used this house for worker accommodation or for rental.Cobourg Book 5 – 18 Spencer Street East – Known as ‘The Poplars’. The Spencers, Beatty’s and Daintry’s who lived here were closely associated with the history and development of Cobourg and were connected to well-known Canadian families including the Ryersons. Early Ontario Regency ArchitectureDundas Book 1 – 262 King Street West – old stone Regency Cottage – 1830 – dormer in atticDunnville Book 2 – Sweet’s Corners – 5667 Rainham Road – Gothic Ontario CottageElmira – 4 South Street – one story Ontario Cottage with dormer in hipped roofBolton – 52 Sterne Street – circa 1870s – This 1½ story Regency Cottage has the characteristic center entry flanked by symmetric windows and arched window in the center gable. The exterior is clad in wood. The shutters appear to be original and are functional rather than merely decorative. There is clear etched glass in the transom light over the door.Bolton – 37 King Street East – William Norris House – late 1850s – This frame Regency Cottage with picket fence was purchased by William Norris in 1864. He built a store addition to the east side with a separate door and window to the street. Originally clad in roughcast plaster, it was later veneered in red brick with yellow brick trim, and decorated with ornate door stoop, carved posts and cast-iron railing, all of which have been painted over or replaced. It was bought in 1910 by Alderman D.B Kennedy, Bolton Hydro and school board member who eliminated the separate store by converting its door to a window. John and Vera Elliott Goulter bought the house in 1953 and lived here for 60 years.Grimsby Book 1 – 129 Main Street West – Canterbury Cottage – This historic home was built in 1852 by Charles Nelles, son of Robert, and was deeded to his widowed half-sister Catharine Bingle Porter. Catharine was the daughter of Robert Nelles’ second wife, Maria Bingle. This Regency cottage with its low hip roof and large windows has a cozy appearance that hides its spacious, elegant interior. Two additions have been made to the rear of this home. The bent Catalpa tree in front of the house was once said to be a marker on an early Indian trail, leading south to flint beds in Wainfleet.Guelph Book 1 – #29 – limestone cottageIngersoll Book 1 – 185 Oxford Street – This one-story Ontario Cottage with a hipped roof is over one hundred years old. Its most attractive features are the front porch with the decorative fascia board, molded brackets and interesting railing construction and the two stained-glass panels in the front windows. This house was built for his sister by F. Richardson, lumber dealer and owner of a planing mill. He became involved in the lumber business around 1885 and erected or supplied lumber for many buildings in the area.Mount Pleasant – 676 Mount Pleasant Road – This circa 1830 Regency Gothic cottage was the manse of the first Presbyterian and resident minister in the village, Reverend John Bryning – board and batten construction.Mount Pleasant – 641 Mount Pleasant Road – This farmhouse was built in 1860 in distinctive Regency style evident in the long front windows in fitted panels. The bay window has Victorian details. Both the Phelps and McAllister families have a multi-generation history in the village reaching back to the early 1800s.Neustadt Book – The Right Honourable John Diefenbaker, son of a local school teacher, was born in this house on September 18, 1895. A distinguished Parliamentarian, he was first elected to the House of Commons in 1940 and served as 13th Prime Minister of Canada, 1957-1963. Gothic Regency Cottage, verge board on gable.Niagara Falls Book 1 – 6103 Culp Street – c. 1798 – This was James Forsyth’s second home in Drummondville. Forsyth was one of the first ten families to settle in this area in 1783. For many years Isaac Culp owned the house and farmed the surrounding land. It is in the Regency Cottage style in a square plan with a low hip roof and symmetrical arrangement of openings across the front facade.Otterville – 225422 Main Street West – Oddy House – constructed in 1861 – Also called Woodlawn Place which is associated with Thomas Wright, a local, prominent inventor who designed and lived in the building in the mid-nineteenth century. Wright was influenced by Dr. Orson Fowler, whose 1853 book, The Octagonal House “A Home For All”, encouraged the practicality of octagonal dwellings. Fowler argues that these homes were easier to heat and made greater use of the sun’s rays. It is a fine example of the Regency Cottage style of architecture although its octagonal shape makes it unusual. The building is of plank construction with board and batten siding. The overall plan consists of a 45-foot octagon with a 20 foot by 20-foot wing that is situated to form a trapezoidal umbrage at the side of the house. Typical of the Regency style, Woodlawn Place features a wide roof overhang and deep fascia boards. The front door is flanked with sidelights and Doric pilasters, complimented by a simulated entablature above.Paris Book 3 – 899 Keg Lane Road – This 1½ story Regency Style house with four cobblestone walls was built for Charles and Margaret O’Neail, circa 1861, by his father Daniel O’Neail who came to Canada from Ireland in 1830. Daniel was the first president of the Paris Agricultural Society; Charles later served as president.Port Colborne Book 2 – 1271 Sherk Road – The property was passed on to David Sherk, son of Casper Sherk, in April 1806. The Sherks came from Pennsylvania and were among the first families to settle in Humberstone. During the mid-1870s, an Ontario farmhouse was built near the center of the lot. The house is an excellent example of nineteenth century farm house building styles and techniques. It displays features of Regency, Gothic and Italianate styles of architecture. Regency detailing is seen in the large first floor windows and wraparound porch. Gothic styling is in the deep eaves and scroll work on the porch posts, and the vertical and horizontal clapboard siding. The Vernacular Ontario Gothic Cottage addition has large multi-pane, sash-type windows with Italianate hooded surrounds, end chimneys and a field stone foundation.Port Hope Book 3 – 17 Victoria Street South – Samuel Coombe Cottage – c. 1860 – This is a one story high hip-roofed Ontario cottage, roughly square in plan with an ell to the rear. Constructed in stretcher-bond brick, it stands on a level site on a corner lot. The facade is symmetrically arranged around a central front door flanked by sidelights and transom. The gable is decorated with barge board and accented by a round-headed window and topped by a spike finial and ornament. Of special interest is the front door vestibule that could be seasonally removed in the warmer months. Samuel Coombe (1826-1905) was born in Stowford County, Devon England emigrating to Port Hope during the prosperous early 1850’s. He made a contribution as a carpenter during the building boom, and into the following decades.Portland Book – Newboro – 14 Main Street – The Richard Blake House – c. 1858 – Ontario Cottage – 1½ stories; gable window over front doorway provided light to a central hallway on the upper floor; intricate treillage work on the veranda posts, open railingRockwood – Main Street – Gothic Ontario Cottage, verge board trim on gable, sidelight, transom window, arched voussoirsSarnia Book 1 – 316 Brock Street North – 1860 – Regency Cottage, hipped roofThunder Bay – Fort William Book 2 – 200 May Street South – Blake Funeral Chapel – built in 1935 in the Regency style – dormer in hipped roof, voussoirs over round-arched first-floor windowsTown of Lincoln – Beamsville – 4918 King Street – Woodburn Cottage – The land was originally deeded by Crown Patent to Jacob Beam in 1801. The house built about 1834 for James B. Osborne, a merchant, postmaster and private banker. He was a prominent member of the community. The name “Woodburn” is said to have derived from James Osborne’s second wife’s family. The house is Regency Cottage in style. It is built of Flemish double stretcher bond red brick on top of a field stone foundation. The front facade has an impressive double door with sidelights and a fan transom housed in an arched brick surround. Flanking the doorway are four large, shuttered windows, each with twelve panes and flat stone lintels on top. The hipped roof has double-flued, corbeled chimneys on each corner and has a large belvedere on top.Uxbridge Book 1 – 127 Brock Street East – Benjamin & Elizabeth Clemence House, Shoemaker – c. 1879Waterloo Book 2 – 172 King Street South – the original portion, the first homestead in Waterloo, was built about 1812 by Abraham Erb; subsequent additions – white clapboard; wings on either side of center section and second-story balcony added 1855; 6-over-6 arrangement of window panes is a Georgian characteristic; symmetrical front porch between two wings with latticework, Gothic barge board and Doric columns reflects a Regency influence.Whitby Book 1 – 926 Byron Street South – James Keith Gordon House – 1853 – Regency CottageWoodstock Book 1 – 58 Victoria Street South – Ontario Cottage – 1½ story symmetrical red brick, steep hip roof, roof line continues to form roof of open porch, turned posts and balustersWoodstock Book 2 – 385 Brant Street – The dwelling was built about 1890 for Thomas A. McCleneghan, Deputy Postmaster and son of Alex R. McCleneghan (81 Perry Street) who was Postmaster. The dwelling is of the Regency style, 1½ stories, low hip roof and cottage appearance. The center door, flanked by large square windows, is typical of this style. The front entrance is flanked by three windows topped with an ellipse shape segmented head window. On the front porch, the ellipse and square designs are repeated in the lattice work. The brick work features beautiful brick work in the drip molding and chimney. Other details include a rectangular patterned verge board, an iron-crested bay window accented with a pair of finals and a continually repeated pattern or rectangular patterns in windows and brickwork.
