Featuring 250 houses and more than 400 color photographs, this book explores the Toronto's older homes illustrating more than 20 architectural styles from ten distinct neighborhoods. A new chapter features houses in the Greater Toronto Area.

Chosen as one of Style at Home's Top Ten Coffee Table Books.

The date is October 15, 1954. Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth, who lives in the Toronto suburb of Weston, is a typical grade 8 girl. She has a secret crush on a boy in her class and she thinks Elvis Presley is "dreamy." Elizabeth also has a part-time job babysitting an adorable little grade 2 girl named Suzie, and Suzie’s not-so-adorable grade 6 brother, David. Elizabeth’s job is to walk Suzie and David home after school and then stay at their house with them until their mother gets home from work. David resents Elizabeth because he thinks he is too old for a babysitter, and he goes out of his way to make life miserable for her. On this particular evening, however, Elizabeth has more than a badly behaved boy to contend with. It is on this October night that Hurricane Hazel roars down on Toronto, bringing torrential rains that cause extensive flooding. David and Suzie’s house is on Raymore Drive, a street that will be practically wiped out by the floodwaters. David and Suzie’s parents are unable to reach the house, which means the children’s safety on this most deadly of nights is Elizabeth’s responsibility. She finds herself increasingly isolated. They are surrounded by rising water. The electricity goes out. The phone goes dead. Still, Elizabeth is sure they will be safe as long as they remain in the house. But are Elizabeth and the children really as "safe as houses"? Before this terrifying night is over, Elizabeth and David will have to learn to communicate and cooperate if they are to save their own lives and Suzie’s. Their survival in the midst of one of Canada’s worst disasters will depend upon their resourcefulness, maturity and courage.

From the 1870s to the 1950s, waves of immigrants to Toronto – Irish, Jewish, Chinese and Italian, among others – landed in ‘The Ward’ in the centre of downtown. Deemed a slum, the area was crammed with derelict housing and ‘ethnic’ businesses; it was razed in the 1950s to make way for a grand civic plaza and modern city hall. Archival photos and contributions from a wide variety of voices finally tell the story of this complex neighbourhood and the lessons it offers about immigration and poverty in big cities. Contributors include historians, politicians, architects and descendents of Ward res­idents on subjects such as playgrounds, tuberculosis, bootlegging and Chinese laundries. With essays by Howard Akler, Denise Balkissoon, Steve Bulger, Jim Burant, Arlene Chan, Alina Chatterjee, Cathy Crowe, Richard Dennis, Ruth Frager, Richard Harris, Gaetan Heroux, Edward Keenan, Bruce Kidd, Mark Kingwell, Jack Lipinsky, John Lorinc, Shawn Micallef, Howard Moscoe, Laurie Monsebraaten, Terry Murray, Ratna Omidvar, Stephen Otto, Vincenzo Pietropaolo, Michael Posner, Michael Redhill, Victor Russell, Ellen Scheinberg, Sandra Shaul, Myer Siemiatycki, Mariana Valverde, Thelma Wheatley, Kristyn Wong­-Tam and Paul Yee, among others.

Toronto is home to multiple and thriving queer communities that reflect the intense diversity of the city itself, and Any Other Way is an eclectic history of how these groups have transformed Toronto since the 1960s. From pioneering activists to show-stopping parades, Any Other Way looks at how queer communities have gone from existing in the shadows to shaping our streets.

Toronto has been hailed as “a city in the making” and “the city that works.” It’s an ongoing project: in recent years Canada’s largest city has experienced transformative, exciting change. But just what does contemporary Toronto look like? This authoritative architectural guide, newly updated and expanded, leads readers on 26 walking tours—revealing the evolution of the place from a quiet Georgian town to a dynamic global city. More than 1,000 designs are featured: from modest Victorian houses to shimmering downtown towers and cultural landmarks. Over 300 photographs, 29 maps, a description of architectural styles, a glossary of architectural terms, and indexes of architects and buildings pilot readers through Toronto’s diverse cityscape. New sections illustrate the swiftly changing face of Toronto’s waterfront and design highlights across the region. Originally written by architectural journalist Patricia McHugh and enhanced with new material and insights by Globe and Mail architecture critic Alex Bozikovic, this definitive guide offers a revealing exploration of Toronto’s past and future, for the city’s visitors and locals alike.

An exploration of home architecture from the late 18th to the early 20th century in Southern Ontario, combines detailed photography with a lively and appreciative text. Rural and inner city Ontario has a good number of restored homes - these are the best.

Stunning full-colour photographs and engaging text show readers how to identify Ontario's many unique types of homes. Ontario has a rich history of architectural styles, and is home to some of the most stunning heritage houses in North America. In this book, author Robert Mikel profiles in depth every important house style the province has seen over the past three centuries -- from the grand elegance of the Italianate to the intimacy and coziness of the Ontario Cottage. Readers will see how each house style developed in Europe, came to Ontario, and the variations that are unique to the province. Both an attractive gift book and a solid reference, Ontario House Styles will appeal to those who live in Ontario's tens of thousands of heritage homes and to anyone interested in Ontario's colourful architectural history. Ontario House Styles includes ninety homes from: * Ancaster * Brockville * Cobourg * Cambridge * Dundas * Gananoque * Grafton * Grimsby * Hamilton * Kingston * London * Napanee * Niagara-on-the-Lake * Odessa * Paris * Picton * Port Hope * St. Mary's * Stoney Creek * Stratford * Toronto * Waterloo

The slogan on Ontario's licence plates, 'Yours to Discover,' was designed to promote travel opportunities within the province. Every year, thousands of tourists drive along country roads, past farmyards and through hamlets, en route to popular vacation spots. In Looking for Old Ontario, Thomas McIlwraith shows that many destinations are closer at hand than one might imagine, and invites travellers to rediscover familiar countryside landmarks by 'reading' them as chapters in a rich historical narrative. Surveyors long ago scored Ontario's land, and generations have since inscribed it with residences, businesses, and institutions. This book, the result of thirty years of field work and archival research, is a reflection on and an interpretation of the ways in which the land and its inhabitants interrelate. Looking for Old Ontario guides readers through the vernacular landscape of the province, examining barns, fences, jails, post offices, inns, mills, canals, railways, roadsides, cemeteries, and much more. McIlwraith emphasizes ordinary features of the cultural landscape which communicate social meaning to the observant eye. The landscape tells us that Ontario has been inhabited by thrifty people; this we can conclude by looking at the economical use and reuse of construction materials. Yet the landscape also tells us that Ontario's residents have been inclined to show off: consider the province's unusually large number of elegant brick dwellings. To read a landscape is to think about such connections, and McIlwraith's contemplative style differentiates his work from manuals or handbooks. Since landscape interpretation is a highly visual subject, Looking for Old Ontario is extensively illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps. It will be useful to general readers interested in recognizing the broader meanings of their communities' heritage, as well as to students of geography, history, and planning.