Building Styles

Simcoe

A drive through rural Ontario is likely to provide many examples of the small Gothic Revival Cottages in a variety of vernacular materials. The basic design was promoted in the 19th century by academics J.C. Loudon and A.J. Downing as well as the Canadian Farmer (1865) where it is featured complete with construction drawings for the farmer to build.

Details such as the finials, bargeboarding, and window hoods add the Gothic flavor. The scalloping under the eaves is also medieval. The door detailing, in this example, is Georgian.

Picton

Another name for Gothic Revival is Jigsaw Gothic for obvious reasons. The intricate vergeboarding, complete with crockets, kingposts, finials, and quatrefoils is really breathtaking.

This lovely home, now an Inn, emphasises the verticality of the Gothic Revival. The second and third storey windows are remarkably tall and slender.

Medoc

There is a mixture of styles on this house. The core and the vergeboarding are Gothic, but the bay window, complete with segmental arches and iron cresting, is more Second Empire.

Both gables have lancet windows and are beautifully constructed with large voussoirs. The front door is also beautifully constructed and well maintained.

Progeston

This house has far fewer Gothic elements than that above, but it has very steeply pitched gables, gingerbread or vergeboarding, and the board and batten finish that was popular during the era. Board and batten was originally used in Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture - see Carpenter's Gothic - but it was also used on other structures.

The gable windows have half-rounded arches, while the first floor bays have segmental arches, showing an Italianate influence.

Ottawa

The Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, constructed in the last decades of the 19th century, reflect the public buildings in London England and illustrate some of the features praised by John Ruskin, the foremost architectural critic of the time. The architect was allowed great liberty in the design which is a mixture of the following: Gothic, lancet arches, trefoils, tracery, Baroque, iron cresting, and Château, steeply pitched roofs, and dormers.

Notice that the voussoirs atop the windows are in a different colour from the other stone of the building giving a dichromatic effect, an element that was, again, admired by Ruskin. The windows themselves have a trefoil pattern that is repeated regardless of the arc of the window. The roof is patinated copper that looks very handsome with the red window detailing.

Paris

Regency Gothic

The Paris Plains Church located on a beautiful plain just outside Paris, was called the West Dumfries Wesleyan Chapel when it was built in 1845. The Chapel itself is a basic vernacular box shape, the building was an auditory hall large enough for one preacher and a small congregation. The design of these towerless box churches was to be seen in the window and door details. This chapel is a wonderful mix of 19th century styles.

From a distance it looks like a Gothic Revival Church simply because of the lancet windows. The overall size and shape of the building, however, is not. The roof pitch is low, there is no bell tower, and no other gothic detailing, not even drip moulds. Because of this it is called Regency Gothic.

The cobblestone exterior finish is unique to the Paris area being "imported" by Levi Broughton from New York in 1838. The stonework on this chapel is particularly impressive considering that it was all done by volunteers from the congregation.

The elegant, interlacing muntin bars on the lunette and windows became popular during the Regency period and became extremely popular as can be seen on the Bolton Chapel below. The original door was replaced by a well- meaning Italianate improver some years later.

Picton

Here is another great example of Regency or Picturesque Gothic. The brick is made in a variety of colours that reflect the local clay mixture.

Bolton

Fieldstone was a more usual medium for country churches, and these generally illustrate exceptional trade skill as well as tasteful design. Box-shaped country chapels served the spiritual and social needs of the surrounding community for many years until advanced transportation made access to towns more available.

The shutters are shaped to fit the lancet windows and may have been closed during storms to protect the multi-paned windows. These wide lancets were introduced during the Regency period.Corner buttressing is discreet and understated to match the tower.

Cobourg

St. Peter's Church in Cobourg was one of the earliest Anglican parish churches in Upper Canada. The original frame church was replaced in many stages by this brick Gothic Revival structure. The tower and front façade, shown in this image, were designed by Henry Bowler Lane. They were constructed in 1844.

The church façade is constructed around a central buttressed tower. The façade has lancet windows and doors with hood molds. A central rose window on the tower is accentuated by a horizontal band. The parapets on both the tower and the aisles are castellated.

Jordan

St, John's Anglican - Episcopal church was built on the Niagara Escarpment in 1841. Like the above, this is a typical rural church made from local stone in the picturesque medieval style. It is symmetrical, with a central processional aisle and straight backed pews.

To distinguish it as a Gothic Revival building, there is battlementing on the tall, slim, tower and diaper-latticed lancet windows. The windows are propotionally quite large for the wall space, letting in a light that floods the small church beautifully.

Vaughan

This Gothic Revival building has been modified into a residence. The second storey balcony was added much later, but the original building is clearly 19th century.

The dichromatic brick patterns are the most outstanding feature of this building. Quoins, bands, blind arches, and a lozenge within the wider gable all point to Gothic Revival. The second storey window was added later, and the roof is new. Quite possibly there were vergeboarding and finials on the original building.

Port Hope

Here is a rare example of a Gothic Revival residence using red brick instead of stone with white detailing.

The frontispiece has a stepped gable that holds the date. The front porch has a door with a low lancet arch, dripmold, and label stops. Above the porch is a balustraded balcony with twin lancet doors. The two other second storey windows have fractables. The lower floor has square dripmolds and label stops.

The walls are buttressed at the corners, and the side walls have bay windows. There are multiple chimneys on the roof suggesting that there are many fireplaces.

This is a very early and very good example of Gothic Revival in a large, well- situated house.

Guelph

Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Guelph (1876) was designed by Joseph Connolly in the French Gothic Style or "Style Ogivale" as it is known in France. It has a large rose window, twin towers, and extravagant statuary on the front façade. The tympanum over the front entrance is also carved with religious figures. Guelph is founded on rock, and so is this cathedral.

Our Lady was meant to occupy the same position in Guelph as the medieval cathedrals occupied in France. It was meant as a civic and social center and a national monument as much as a place of worship. Situated at the top of a hill overlooking a long boulevard down to the train station, this building has presence above and beyond that of its intrinsic beauty.

Elora

Aside from the lancet window and the scalloping, this building shows its Gothic favor through sheer verticality. The board and batten trim accentuates the vertical thrust of the walls. The second storey dormers are also far higher than would be found on equivalents done in one of the Classical based styles (Neoclassical or Beaux Arts Classicism).

The store front windows have very large panes and are probably not original, but the placement of the windows and the trim has been done to match the original.