The Ontario Cottage is a style of

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air cond ...

that was commonly built in 19th century

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. The Ontario Cottage became popular in the 1820s and remained a common style until the end of that century. They were mainly built in rural and small town areas, less so in larger cities. This was the period in which European settlers first populated the interior of the province, and throughout it Ontario Cottages are some of the oldest houses. The Ontario Cottage is essentially a

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

-style structure, with symmetrical, rectangular plans. The style was efficient and easy to build for settlers with limited resources. The typical cottage had one-and-a-half storeys and large windows, made possible by relatively cheap mass-produced glass. The most distinctive feature of the Ontario Cottage was the single

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aest ...

above the door in the centre of the building. By the second half of the 19th century

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

had become the most popular architectural style in Canada. Many Ontario Cottages built during this era incorporate Gothic ornamentation, most often added to the gable.

References

* Kalman, Harold D. ''A History of Canadian Architecture.'' Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994. * Robert Mikel. ''Ontario House Styles.'' James Lorimer & Company, 2004 {{reflist Housing in Canada House types Regency architecture in Canada Culture of Ontario