It may be the industrial heartland of Canada and it may be under phenomenal pressure to keep on growing, but if you look beyond the suburbs and the skyscrapers, the province of Ontario is still rich in the past. Here and there -- in rural townships, small towns and the older parts of cities -- many of its original houses are still standing, a surprising number lovingly restored and maintained with historical authenticity in mind. Old Ontario Houses: Traditions in Local Architecture, a collaborative tribute to the past by writer Tom Cruickshank and renowned photographer John de Visser, offers a glimpse into a selection of these homes dating from the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, more than 150 in all. Filled with de Visser's exceptional full color photographs, the book features well-known landmarks as well as vintage houses. Their stories, told in Cruickshank's lively, appreciative voice, remind us of a bygone era and speak volumes about the values and aspirations of the province that built them.
