1917 Canadian Georgian Revival

[JacquieJet]

Hello there!
I got a tip from someone about the existence of this forum, and couldn't help but register/say hello!
I'm very new to all of this- this is our first century home, but it is a beauty! It has definitely been a labour of love, but well worth it!

The house is in Ontario, Canada, in a historic district, and apparently of the Georgian Revival style (but I have yet to confirm this). Everything I have seen that is of that style seems to have a porch directly in the middle, which mine does not. What I do know is that the home was built in 1917, and although I don't know who originally built it, I have found a fair bit of info on many past owners and their colourful histories! I have been putting together a binder of house history since moving in over a year ago. It's amazing what can be found in the archives! So far, I have found one prior owner in the 1920's who fought in WW1, only to lose his eldest son in the war and his youngest son 2 years later to the Spanish Influenza. Another family actually lost their husband/father quite young, and in the obit my address is listed as his funeral location! Another family I have found had lived here for 50 years, and their daughter has been more than kind, sharing photos of the house from her parents' albums from the 1950's onward. It's been so interesting!

Since we moved in, we have had to tear down/re-do a wall (covered with mould from a slow exterior water leak- the house sat empty for a couple of years before we bought it as the last owners before us both passed away without any next of kin), we tore down the dilapidated garage (came down in one pull! Was seriously unsafe!) and built a 4 car garage shop in its place, had a huge maple cut down in the yard (was mostly dead and a huge hazard, unfortunately), got our fireplace restored/brought up to safety codes from original (woodburning), put in new (green!) countertops, got 26 broken window panes replaced in our original wood sash windows with new custom-cut glass, got all the leaded glass windows removed and restored to original condition (they were is bad disrepair), installed a fence and wrought iron driveway gates, re-did the porch, and fixed up a poorly renovated bathroom. Whew!
I'm including a handful of photos of a few of the rooms... I love this house!

[JacquieJet]

More photos!

[Gothichome]

Jacquiejet, nice kitchen,looks like it could be a mid century update just has that 40's early 50's feel to me. You have done a lot of work and it shows. I also see a craftsman look to the interiors, maybe it's the simple squareness of the windows and interior trim, I bet there is some great stain colour under that white paint.
Your the second Canuck in as many days to register, we have some pretty sharp folks here, they may be able to better label the style of you home. Look forward to continued conversations.

[JacquieJet]

Oh, that sounds great! Thanks for the ideas, Gothichome!
I was thinking of picking up a heat gun soon and seeing what I can uncover... oddly enough, it seems like some of the windows were originally painted, as on areas where the paint has worn though or chipped, the wood underneath looks raw and natural. Hopefully some of them had stain that I can uncover! The paint on some of the larger windows is a bit blistered, so hopefully won't be too tough to remove. We shall see! Thanks!!

[1918ColonialRevival]

Very nice. I love that original sun porch.

In the 1910s, some woodwork was intended to be painted. If you strip a small section and find yellow or white pine and not a wood that would have been finished like oak or walnut, it was originally painted.

[JacquieJet]

The wood that I've seen does indeed look like white pine! Isn't that interesting!

[Nicholas]

Hi! So this is what I did.

I typed in Georgian revival architecture/ images and looked at homes that were as close to yours as possible. I kinda thought yours had a colonial look, and there are some similar Georgian Revivals that are also neo Colonial, or neo Georgian.

I also like that detailed sunroom, I have a much smaller version, part of a 1940 addition.

[JacquieJet]

Hmm, interesting. Thanks for poking about, Nicholas! I'll have to Google some more.
Thanks! I love the sunroom too. We use it as a dining room, because the last major renovation by pervious owners turned what was the original dining room into a large main floor bathroom and expanded the kitchen. Not sure how I feel about that, but it is what it is. At first I thought it was an addition, based on the 3 exterior walls of windows, but there is a basement under it and all the old pictures I have of the house have it, too. Weirdly, the section of the basement under it is actually kind of an animal pen, complete with a swing-in door... we call it the "Kill Room" heh heh. We aren't in the countryside, so it's kind of a mystery...

[Sinoed]

You have a beautiful house, I love the architectural details. You're very lucky to have original windows and I'm so glad that you took care of them. It looks like you've already done a ton of work on the house especially if it sat vacant for a few years. Welcome.

[JacquieJet]

Thanks, Sinoed!
When we first moved in, I must admit I looked into replacing them with casement-style ones, having come from a new build house previously and knowing nothing about old windows (or old houses!). Luckily I sat with the decision awhile and did a lot of reading on the subject, coming to the conclusion that keeping the original windows was the right call! Whew!

PS I just noticed in my last post I wrote "pervious" instead of previous... heh heh. Freudian slip? Or autocorrect? LOL.