Toronto has a huge stock of Georgian, Victorian, and other heritage homes. It is not uncommon for these fine structures to have had many of their original qualities removed or obscured by generations of renovations and repairs. This series of National Post articles by ERA’s Scott Weir explores a number of ideas surrounding heritage homes, and instructs on a number of different house types and architectural features to which we may wish to become more attuned.

To view pdfs of the articles, click the titles below:

Beauty in disguise: Intro to a range of historical styles and their characteristics

The Georgian myth: What does “Georgian” really mean?

Our colonial inheritance: The refinement of the Regency cottage

The tiny, perfect home: The charm of the Gothic cottage

Toronto’s house next door: The bay-and-gable, a Toronto mainstay

Mansard made easy: Workers’ cottages to sprawling mansions: the Second Empire style

Torontonian to the core: The smorgasbord of the Annex House

The beauty of function: Arts and Crafts’ use of nature, skill, and quality materials

From India to Toronto: Craftsman bungalows: treat with a subtle hand

Dignified colonial: New England Dutch colonial style arrives

Land of dream homes: The Kingsway and its storybook architecture

A ranch for the suburbs: Mid-century modernism in Toronto’s suburban neighbourhoods