The Rural Voice, 1987-03, Page 57Following the War of Independ-
ence, the Americans downgraded things
British and took an avid interest in the
style now known as Greek Revival.
Taking the ancient Greek temples as
models, they designed modest houses,
rich people's houses, churches,
schools, and other buildings which
looked like the Parthenon in Athens in
shape, proportion, and certain details.
Washington, D.C. has many fine
Greek -inspired structures.
Other classic revival styles pre-
viously popular in Canada and the
United States had the long wall of the
main section of the house facing the
road. The temple -like Greek Revival
houses had the shorter wall, the gable
end, facing the roadway instead.
The popularity of the Greek
Revival style ended around 1865 in the
United States, at the time of the Civil
War. Since settlement in this part of
Ontario was relatively late, there were
very few examples of Greek Revival
built here. One can see some early
examples in Waterloo County and
dozens in Eastern Ontario, but perhaps
the best example in our territory is
Thomas Mercer Jones' house in
Goderich, located at the top of the hill
before you take the road down to the
harbour. It is across the street from
the Park House (now a restaurant).
The Greek Revival houses, gener-
ally introduced to Ontario by the
United Empire Loyalists, were often
devoid of pillars but were nevertheless
Greek Revival in detail. During the
latter years when this style was pop-
ular in Ontario, some builders even
added Greek Revival details to houses
which had their broad face rather than
their gable end to the roadway.
Some observers remark that the
early barns and driving sheds which
survive on our farms stand proudly
like Greek temples, but without the
pillars. Across Ontario during the
1870s, there was a "revival of the
Greek Revival" and still later a revival
of that revival. It is a style whose
details, of one sort or another, keep
reappearing.
In Upper New York State in the
Finger Lakes region, you can see
stunning old towns and villages in
which the majority of the buildings are
Greek Revival in style.0
James Anderson
Stratford -Perth Archives
ALERT Owners say ....
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Seaforth were the first milk producers in
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" Our somatic cell count has
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Milking time has
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minutes a day and there's no
more running from cow
to cow. We can now
see at a glance when
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milking."
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R. R. 4, Seaforth, Ont. NOK 1 WO
519-527-1935
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MARCH 1987 55