Restoration Project

Today, I was fortunate enough to have been given a tour of a recent restoration project on a fully-detached nineteenth-century house near Harbord and Spadina in Toronto. This house, which blends elements from the Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne styles of the late nineteenth century, retains much of its original interior woodwork and its original mixture of stylistic features that compose its characteristically Torontonian facade. We will be keeping an eye on this project, not least because my father's company is handling the restoration as well as the large addition on the rear. Way to go, Dad! It's looking great!

Top 5 visits of 2010

2010 was an amazing year for building visits and looking back over the year, there were a couple of definite highlights. To say goodbye to 2010 and to kick off 2011, we have selected our top 5 building visits of 2010. Here they are in order of the dates that we visited them.

1. Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, BC

In April, we packed our cameras and headed for the west coast where we were extremely lucky to get a tour of Christ Church Cathedral with special access above the stone vaults and on the roof to see the flying buttresses. For more photos, click here.

2. The Church of the Holy Cross, aka the "Skookumchuk Church," Skatin, BC

While in BC, we travelled inland to see this wooden marvel. The 1905 Carpenter's Gothic church is currently undergoing repairs to restore it to its full glory. For more information, visit the Ama Liisaos Heritage Trust Society.

3. Auchmar House, Hamilton, ON

This spring, we visited this spectacular Gothic Revival villa perched on the top of the Niagara Escarpment. There will be more to come in the next few months on this fascinating house, but for now, click here.

4. The Provincial Normal College, Truro, NS

In May, we packed up again and headed to the other side of the country to explore Nova Scotia. We went to Truro to check out the Anglican church, but we were pleasantly surprised to find this Second Empire gem. This 1877 red brick building proved to be one of our favourite stops!

5. Old Holy Trinity, Middleton, NS

One of our last stops in Nova Scotia was to visit this 1789 wooden church. The Gothic windows in this little church may well mark one of the earliest appearances of the motif in Canada.  It was a great visit and a great way to wrap up our trip out east!