We love cottages. The Ontario Cottage became popular in the 1820s and remained popular until the end of the century. Perfect, symmetrical, one and a half storey, rectangular buildings with tons of charm. Stratford has a large collection of these homes and Guelph has a row of them as a well-known city landmark.

The Guelph Arts Council offers a self-guided historical walking tour which will lead you to some of Guelph's best heritage homes. Our favourites amongst them were three stone cottages in a row at 340, 344, and 348 Woolwich Street. Each of the cottages feature square picked limestone with quoin corners, a hip roof as well as 6-over-6 wood sash windows. 

The earliest cottage, #344, was built in 1866. Once associated with the McTague family, original pioneers of the area, it is now used as an insurance office. Built in 1875, the limestone cottage at #340 was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2011, protecting the exterior elements of the home.

We are in the process of designing an addition to enlarge an Ontario Cottage in Stratford. We hope to maintain the unpretentious integrity of this traditional home and add to its inherent charm.

What do you love about Ontario Cottages?

Rory McDonnell is a General Contractor, Licensed Carpenter and Architectural Designer with Build, a construction firm in Stratford, Ontario, specializing in new custom homes and renovations.

Hot off the press, to melt that February snow blast today! Build faced the seemingly insurmountable challenge of a neoclassical portico restoration! And won! Build took an everyday country kitchen and made it modern, efficient and fabulous. Build brought back craftsman, with an interpretation of a modern arts and crafts newly built home!

Keep watching our blog for more photos and in-depth descriptions of some of our favourite newsletter posts.

Take a gander, ignite your imagination, and call us when you are ready for us to love your house!

One of our favourite things to work on is porches. I think we all like porches, and most of us have fond memories of sitting on a porch on a warm summer evening, enjoying a cool drink and chatting. Porches are the face of most older homes, and should be an aspiration for all new homes – a porch just makes a house! This particular porch was looking a bit tired – the columns, railings and floor had all served this house well but were tired and in need of replacement:

We have done a lot of research and experimentation to find materials that will last and look appropriate on older homes. The challenge is that good old wood has its shortcomings, mainly that we have used up a good chunk of the old growth species that used to be fine outside in the elements. Coupled with the fact that I am not convinced that modern paints last as long as the old oil and lead based paints of the past, and its not surprising that exterior woodwork just does not seem to last as long as it once did. 

This porch presented an opportunity to come up with a sleeker look, one that better fits the style of the home. Columns with proper entasis in a marble/fiberglass mix were used for longevity. The railing spindles were constructed from synthetic wood/epoxy mix that weathers very well, and the top and bottom rails are of Accoya -an acetylated wood that promises to resist rot far better than natural wood while still be paintable. The floor is TREX which allows for no painting, so no peeling paint; a common problem with painted tongue and groove wood floors.

A very traditionally styled porch made of long lasting, durable materials. Many summers of enjoyment await.