Photos taken between Kars and Smith Falls on August 4th, 2018, .
In rural areas along the Rideau River and around the Rideau Lakes, one often comes across a particular building typology – symmetrical stone houses, one and a half stories high, with a gable in the middle of the front facade. Locally, one also finds versions of this type in brick, or in wood. Many of these homes date from the first half of the 19th century. Towards the end of that century, the trend in the design and construction of farmhouses, as was the case with their urban counterparts, shifted to asymmetrical 2 storey brick homes.
It is understood that Scottish stonemasons, who had come to work on the Rideau Canal lift locks, had a role in the construction of these rural stone homes. The canal was completed in 1832 as a military waterway but also for a time had commercial use. It was part of a system that allowed ships to travel from Montreal to Lake Ontario bypassing the section of the St Lawrence River that also serves as the Canadian-American border.
Looking at this brief survey of houses can be a study of the original design aesthetics, craftsmanship and how these buildings have fared, in some cases over a span that is close to 200 years. Perhaps the greatest interest here would be in the study of proportions.
Below is an August 2015 photo of the lift locks at Kilmarnock, on the Rideau River.
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