THE ONTARIO COTTAGE: Perfect of Its Kind

Event Details

Event type: All Ages

In this illustrated talk, authors Lynne DiStefano and Dan Schneider will share their fascination with the Ontario Cottage, one of the most recognizable historic houseforms in the province and the subject of their new book The Ontario Cottage: Perfect of Its Kind. The book, which includes 75 full-page photographs and many other illustrations, examines the design lineage of the Ontario Cottage, its proportions and distinctive parts, and the reasons for its enduring appeal.

Lynne and Dan will highlight several examples of Ontario Cottages from Prince Edward County. These include: John and Sophira Howell’s c. 1843 home on Water Street, described in The Settler’s Dream as “[o]ne of the most pleasant architectural surprises along the road approaching Demorestville … perched on a rise marking the entrance to the village” and which Lynne and Dan feature on their book’s front cover (!); and the stone Clapp Palmer House, a beautiful stone building on the south side of Consecon Lake, along County Road 1. Now, thanks to Lynne’s and Dan’s new book, this County gem and others will be appreciated province-wide!

Presented by the PEC Heritage Conservancy, in partnership with County of Prince Edward Public Libraries, this event is a fundraiser for the HASPE Digitizing Project, which aims to digitize the Historical Architectural Survey of Prince Edward – records of a remarkable 4,000+ heritage properties, in over 100 binders, held at the County of Prince Edward Archives, at the Wellington Library.  On display at this special event will be the original HASPE survey records of PEC’s Ontario Cottages.

All of the gathering of the HASPE research (only a fraction of which was published in book form, in 1984, as The Settler’s Dream) was commissioned by the Municipality as a Bi-Centennial Project to mark the 1784 founding of both the Province of Ontario and the County of Prince Edward.  Digitizing the HASPE Collection will preserve this invaluable resource and make it more accessible to County residents, historians, genealogists, planners and consultants.

All proceeds from this event will be donated to the HASPE Digitizing Project. To date, the community has raised $15,000 in support of the project. PEC Heritage Conservancy is confident that we will complete the fundraising for the project in 2026!

About the Authors

Lynne DiStefano, PhD (UPenn) is a specialist in cultural heritage and architectural conservation. Co-founder and past Director of the University of Hong Kong’s Architectural Conservation Programmes, she is a Faculty Associate at the Willowbank School of Restoration Arts. Previously, Lynne was a Chief Curator at Museum London. She is the Co-author (with Nancy Z. Tausky) of Victorian Architecture in London and Southwestern Ontario: Symbols of Aspiration.

Dan Schneider is a heritage enthusiast, policy wonk, writer and professional heritage consultant. Currently president of the Stratford-Perth County branch of Architectural Conservancy Ontario, Dan was custodian for many decades of a c. 1856 limestone Ontario Cottage near St. Marys. His award-winning and widely consulted heritage policy blog OHA+M is housed on the website of the Heritage Resources Centre of the University of Waterloo.