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Photo: Howard Yang
From a restored 19th-century pharmacy to the sweeping veranda of an Edwardian mansion, from an early fur-trading post to a city estate, the Ontario Heritage Trust holds 26 built heritage sites for the people of Ontario. Eleven of these properties have been designated as National Historic Sites.
Properties such as Fulford Place in Brockville, the Niagara Apothecary in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site in Dresden and Macdonell-Williamson House in East Hawkesbury attract thousands of visitors each year. Sites also serve as living museums, reception venues, leased spaces, offices and film locations, used and enjoyed by the people of Ontario and visitors to the province.
Many of the Trust's built properties are operated in partnership with local municipalities and community heritage groups. Working with these partners, the Trust ensures that these heritage sites will remain an important part of the lives of Ontario's communities.
Over the years, with financial assistance from government, the private sector and individuals, the Trust has undertaken extensive conservation work on these properties and their associated collections. By working to conserve our rich built and cultural heritage, the Trust helps us to celebrate the past and understand its importance for the present and the future.
Featured buildings
Greater Toronto Area Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres
At this magnificent National Historic Site, you can bask in the gilded elegance of the Elgin Theatre, and then go upstairs to gaze in amazement at the leafy ceiling of the Winter Garden Theatre, seven storeys above the Elgin ...
Greater Toronto Area Fool’s Paradise – Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Centre
Fool’s Paradise was the home and studio of Canadian landscape artist, writer and educator Doris McCarthy (1910-2010). The site overlooks Lake Ontario along Toronto’s Scarborough Bluffs ...
Eastern Ontario Fulford Place
Walk the same halls as royalty. Get a rare glimpse of the luxurious lifestyle of another era. Discover the story of Senator George T. Fulford, explore the grand Fulford mansion and marvel at the many original family furnishings. Stroll through the restored Olmsted Brothers gardens ...
Southwestern Ontario Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History
The Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History recognizes the accomplishments of Josiah Henson through interpretive videos, interactive exhibits, numerous artifacts and tours that reflect the Black experience in Canada ...
Buildings by location
- Central Ontario
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Central Ontario Barnum House
In 1819, Barnum built a stylish house that stands today as one of Ontario's finest examples of Neo-Classical architecture. The building's composition is formal, with two symmetrical wings flanking a central temple structure ...
Central Ontario Scotsdale Farm
A working farm, Scotsdale presents visitors with 531 acres (215 hectares) of pastoral countryside. Superb hiking trails run through the farm's rolling hills and woodlands ...
- Eastern Ontario
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Eastern Ontario Bethune-Thompson House
The Bethune-Thompson House in Williamstown owes its name to two prominent owners – the Reverend John Bethune and explorer David Thompson. But it was Peter Ferguson, an early settler, who first built a house on this site in 1784 ...
Eastern Ontario Fulford Place
Walk the same halls as royalty. Get a rare glimpse of the luxurious lifestyle of another era. Discover the story of Senator George T. Fulford, explore the grand Fulford mansion and marvel at the many original family furnishings. Stroll through the restored Olmsted Brothers gardens ...
Eastern Ontario Homewood Museum
Although Homewood was constructed in the late Georgian style, the simplicity of some of its details, especially the shutters and metalwork, show a French-Canadian influence ...
Eastern Ontario Inge-Va
Located in the heart of Perth, this late-Georgian stone residence was built in 1823 for Reverend Michael Harris, the first Episcopalian minister in the district ...
Eastern Ontario Macdonell-Williamson House
John Macdonell's home, known as Poplar Villa, is a graceful adaptation of the Palladian style. It served as a centre for his milling, general merchandising, warehousing and freight-forwarding business
Eastern Ontario McMartin House
McMartin House displays many features of the American Federal style of architecture. This style was common in the eastern United States between 1780 and 1820 but was rare in buildings in Ontario ...
- Greater Toronto Area
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Greater Toronto Area Ashbridge Estate
The Ashbridge family was one of the founding families of Toronto (formerly York); they immigrated to York from Pennsylvania in 1793. They are also the only Toronto family to occupy their land continuously for 200 years ...
Greater Toronto Area Elgin & Winter Garden Theatres
At this magnificent National Historic Site, you can bask in the gilded elegance of the Elgin Theatre, and then go upstairs to gaze in amazement at the leafy ceiling of the Winter Garden Theatre, seven storeys above the Elgin ...
Greater Toronto Area Enoch Turner Schoolhouse
Toronto's Enoch Turner Schoolhouse is a provincially significant heritage site and the oldest school still standing in Toronto. Today, this historical property is a public museum and a conference and special events venue. The original one-room school was established in 1848 ...
Greater Toronto Area Fool’s Paradise – Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Centre
Fool’s Paradise was the home and studio of Canadian landscape artist, writer and educator Doris McCarthy (1910-2010). The site overlooks Lake Ontario along Toronto’s Scarborough Bluffs ...
Greater Toronto Area George Brown House
This fine Second Empire-style house was built for George Brown between 1874 and 1876. The elegance of his residence reflects his prominence as a Father of Confederation, founder of The Globe newspaper (now the Globe and Mail) and a leading Liberal politician ...
Greater Toronto Area Ontario Heritage Centre
When the principals of the Canadian Birkbeck Investments and Savings Company decided in 1907 to build their new office building, they chose a highly desirable site. They were the initial owner of what is today the Ontario Heritage Centre – the Ontario Heritage Trust's headquarters
- International
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International Wolford Chapel
Wolford Chapel – a Trust-owned property in England – is associated with significant British elements of Ontario's heritage. It was built by John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806), the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada ...
- Niagara Falls and Region
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Niagara Falls and Region Niagara Apothecary
Step through the doors of the Niagara Apothecary and see how pharmacists practised their profession over 100 years ago. Liquor by the barrel or the bottle (and even by the glass), flavourings, paints, dyes, leeches, tobacco and snuff – these were the stock-in-trade of a 19th-century pharmacy...
- Northern Ontario
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Northern Ontario Hudson's Bay Company Staff House
Moose Factory, an island just south of James Bay, was established in 1673 as the main trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company. It is Canada's oldest English-speaking community. The company's staff house and three servant houses recall the settlement's bygone era ...
Northern Ontario Mather-Walls House
Mather-Walls House is a conservative wooden version of the exuberant Queen Anne style, designed by Winnipeg architect George Browne. It has a picturesque roof line, verandas, fine interior wood trim and hardware, and windows in a variety of shapes and forms decorated with panes of coloured glass ...
Northern Ontario Sir Harry Oakes Chateau
Explore the impressive chateau of the eccentric Sir Harry Oakes (1874-1943), the famous prospector of the gold-mining era that put Kirkland Lake on the map ...
- Southwestern Ontario
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Southwestern Ontario Duff-Baby House
Recognized among the most significant late eighteenth-century landmarks in Upper Canada, the house retains its original orientation to the river and reflects some of the principal themes and events shaping the province's early history ...
Southwestern Ontario Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History
The Josiah Henson Museum of African-Canadian History recognizes the accomplishments of Josiah Henson through interpretive videos, interactive exhibits, numerous artifacts and tours that reflect the Black experience in Canada ...