A place to start

Ancestral Roofs is my place to indulge my love of old houses in Ontario, to save photos and notes and perhaps, in time, to link with other enthusiasts.

The blog name pays homage to Marion MacRae, author of The Ancestral Roof, an early and most authoritative, charming and erudite work on Ontario architecture, published in 1963.The photo at left is my 'ancestral roof', the Ontario farmhouse where my childhood (and that of several generations before mine) was spent.

The idea to start a blog comes as I am finishing a course called History of Architecture, BLDG10043, offered on-line through Mohawk College. Shannon Kyles, the professor, has created a website for use as the web-text at www.OntarioArchitecture.com. It's an outstanding resource for anyone interested in architectural styles and the social history linked to them. The course has been such an opportunity to grow and learn that I just don't want it to stop! So I'll use this blog as a way to challenge myself to continue learning. I think there is a congruence between my decades-long interest in heritage buildings, my photography and pen&ink drawing (which tend to focus on the same subject), my love of writing, and my tendency to take a risk and try something new (often in the technology area, ably supported by a most clever brother).

So here we go - here's to old houses!