Wallaceburg Housing Study

[flar]

Housing in WALLACEBURG, ONTARIO

Although Wallaceburg is my hometown, I never really took a good look at its housing. One thing
that stands out about Wallaceburg is that, for an Ontario town, there are relatively few brick
houses. The other thing is that, at first glance, there seem to be few grand Victorian homes,
especially for a town of this size. But as we will see, once you look a little closer, Wallaceburg
actually has quite a unique and interesting housing stock.


For reference, here is a more general Wallaceburg tour if you want to see what this long suffering
town looks like: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=130336



We'll start with a few well preserved examples.

The first is a Italianate mansion built in 1863.



This Queen Anne home (1887) underwent extensive restoration about 20 years ago. "Painted Ladies" are
quite rare in brick-loving Ontario.



This smaller one was renovated more recently





This house, built around 1860, was a real treat to discover. The Neo-Classical style is fairly rare
in Ontario.





Somewhat-preserverd Queen Anne:



Here are a few brick homes more typical of Ontario architecture

A striking Queen Anne mansion has served as the Rectory for Our Lady of Help Roman Catholic Church
since 1901.





This one was built in 1890.





This 1905 Edwardian mansion is deceptively large.



A similar, but less elaborate home.



Unfortunately, many of Wallaceburg's older homes are in poor condition.

A Gothic Revival Mansion (1858) built built for Capt. James Steinhoff, an early community leader.



Another Gothic Revial house built for Capt. Steinhoff's brother in 1865.



Another one from around the turn of the century:




Now, a little detective work and a lot of speculation...

A forumer by the name of PS curr posted this photo of his aunt's former home in Wallaceburg:


A beautiful Gothic Revival house with a steeply pitched roof and some very elaborate woodwork. I
searched it out because I was very curious about its current state.

Here is what it looks like today:


Although the house is in good repair, all of the Victorian details have been removed. Knowing
what this house used to look like, I looked around very closely for evidence of other formerly
great houses. Unfortunately, this is one of the most run-down neighbourhoods in Wallaceburg, so
I had little hope of finding anything.

This house, about a block away from the one above, still has the original wood siding.


Most of the others have been covered in vinyl siding and have had their details removed. I saw
several large homes that were probably once very beautiful. These would be considered Gothic Revival.







This one even has the pointed Gothic window




This one suffered a fate worse than vinyl, but still has remnants of its bargeboards.



Most of the houses above have bay windows. The details are covered in siding, but these houses
show what the bays would have looked like:





Cottages like those seen extensively throughout Ontario, often called Ontario Gothic cottages.






Some later homes, probably built about the 1890s.







These houses display the Second Empire style, extremely rare in this part of Southwestern Ontario.
The first two (and likely the others) were built in the 1880s.











Although brick houses are rare in Wallaceburg, there are some good examples, mostly following the
same designs as the wood sided houses typical in the town.




This one has some creative masonry, the builder turned the bricks on their sides.


This one features quoins and five satellite dishes.















Don't let these brick examples fool you, typical houses throughout Wallaceburg look like these:






But there are tons of these largish, L-shaped houses
















As we move into the Twentieth Century, the Arts and Crafts movement is evident in Wallaceburg:

These have cobblestone detailing in the gables





This beautiful home was built around 1900



Glouaster Place, 1926



Bungalows?
















Gambrel roofs









Variations on the four-square, seen everywhere in North America, marking the beginnings of mass
society, straight from the catalog.

[Thundertubs]

Nice details.

[xzmattzx]

Great pictures. This is almost like a template for all of Ontario.

[flar]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Great pictures. This is almost like a template for all of Ontario.

Wallaceburg is similar to the Niagara area, but quite a bit different from the central part of southern Ontario that runs from London through Kitchener/Hamilton/Toronto and northward.

[LMich]

Very comprehensive and interesting tour. What I find interesting is that the styles you mark as rare in Wallaceburg and that area of Ontario are actually really huge here just across the border in Michigan. In my city's historic districts, Greek Revival (Neo-Classicism) was ridiculously popular, and there is a healthy mix of Second Empire, throughout, though it's definitely more rare given that it's more labour intensive.

[vid]

Neo-Classical and Second Empire are both virtually no-shows in these parts. Lots of Queen Anne and Edwardian stuff though, and my neighbourhood is at least 70% four square. The oldest houses are Italianate, but very simple, many stripped down to the point that they don't really have architectural styling at all.

[flar]

^^the neo-Classical, Georgian, Greek Revival, etc. and even Second Empire are a bit before Thunder Bay's time. Things were probably booming right about the time the Italianate style came around.

Originally Posted by LMich

Very comprehensive and interesting tour. What I find interesting is that the styles you mark as rare in Wallaceburg and that area of Ontario are actually really huge here just across the border in Michigan. In my city's historic districts, Greek Revival (Neo-Classicism) was ridiculously popular, and there is a healthy mix of Second Empire, throughout, though it's definitely more rare given that it's more labour intensive.

I was pretty surprised to see the Second Empire stuff in Wallaceburg, it's usually reserved for the upper middle to upper classes (although the W'burg examples are among the tiniest Second Empire houses I've seen).
Historically there's a strong Michigan influence in the Wallaceburg area. One contemporary example, the United Auto Workers are still in Wallaceburg, only UAW local in Canada I believe.

[vid]

Our oldest house is Italianate. There are a couple clusters of them in Port Arthur as well, but most have been stripped down. There are a few that are only vaguely Italianate at this point.

[softee]

My Dad's side of the family are from Wallaceburg and I was also born there, so I sent my Dad a link to this thread and he told me that he and my Mom were visiting friends inside the house in the fourth pic when she went into labour with me. haha

[Evergrey]

I've always been curious about Wallaceburg... this is my favorite house... who makes these types of decisions?

[Andy6]

A really excellent thread. Those are some very nice houses in what has to be southern Ontario's least known large town.

It is very interesting to consider how, or even whether, these Ontario border towns differed from their Michigan counterparts as they developed from the 1850s through the 1920s or so. If there are slight differences, they might be thought to point to something deep in our history that is essentially Canadian.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Andy6

A really excellent thread. Those are some very nice houses in what has to be southern Ontario's least known large town.

It is very interesting to consider how, or even whether, these Ontario border towns differed from their Michigan counterparts as they developed from the 1850s through the 1920s or so. If there are slight differences, they might be thought to point to something deep in our history that is essentially Canadian.

It would be interesting to know what things were like early on, before Canadian identity was as strongly developed. I haven't lived in Wallaceburg for 15 years, but at the time I remember that people in the area considered themselves different from Americans, but did not identify as strongly with Canadian culture as people closer to Toronto. Toronto is despised in that area, and certain aspects of Canadian culture are almost seen as cheesy and contrived (like in Alberta?) Many social values are closer to those in the midwest US, with a few exceptions like attitudes to public health care. I have a feeling this has changed somewhat since I moved away and the border has been clamped down.

[kermie]

My family and I are looking to move to Wallaceburg to live and start a business. Wondering if anybody is from the area and might have photos, tips, and advice for us about Wallaceburg in general?

[flar]

Originally Posted by kermie

My family and I are looking to move to Wallaceburg to live and start a business. Wondering if anybody is from the area and might have photos, tips, and advice for us about Wallaceburg in general?

Wallaceburg suffered many job losses and the closure of many businessess in the past 10-15 years. Things seem to have stabilized somewhat.

Wallaceburg has always had a repuation as a rough town. It's always been a blue collar town and culturally may be closer to a small Michigan town than many Canadian towns. Hunting, fishing, country music, and anything with a motor in it are popular. I would advise you take a good visit and see if it's your cup of tea or not.

On the positive side, it is quiet and the cost of living is very low. It is very close to Detroit for sports, concerts, shows, etc. The natural surroundings are unique, with some of the richest farmland in Canada, excellent fishing and lots of opportunity for boating and watersports. Winters are among the least severe in Canada and summers are long, hot and humid (by Canadian standards).

Here are my other Wallaceburg photos:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=130336

[Swinefeld]

Brilliant! Stunning! Unimpeachable!

[boden]

Sweet pics flar. Can't beat Ontario summers.

[flar]

Originally Posted by Swinefeld

Brilliant! Stunning! Unimpeachable!

An all time first...those words have never appeared in a Wallaceburg thread before.