Bay-and-gable

The form emerged during the 1860s, with architects adopting elements commonly associated with English villas and Gothic-styled buildings due to their popularity with residents during that period.

The housing form was also popular amongst homeowners who sought more ornamentations on their homes, with the gables and large windows providing areas that could be decorated with minimal investment.

The housing form re-emerged in the late 20th and early 21st century, with several residential developments within the city and the Greater Toronto Area being infilled with bay-and-gable variants.

[2][5][6] Many semi-detached and terraced bay-and-gable homes in Toronto had polychromatic brickwork around its windows and gables, a common element of High Victorian Gothic architecture.

[8] Semi-detached bay-and-gables from the mid-to-late 19th century typically featured a two-and-one-half-storey façade clad in brick; with a ground-floor bay window fronting the principal room and its entrance sheltered by a small porch.

[9] Although these architects sought to replicate early Elizabethan and Gothic designs, the interior of many of these structures was based on Georgian-styled terrace houses that were common in Toronto during the period.

[9] The interior ground level of a semi-detached bay-and-gable unit typically included a side hall opening into two small or one large room, with an offset kitchen wing in the rear of the house.

[9] In the narrowest semi-detached bay-and-gables, a flight of stairs providing access to the second level of the unit is typically placed in the front section of the hall.

[12] The English Antique/Elizabethan and Gothic architectural styles described in these works served as the foundations for the development of bay-and-gable; namely the symmetrical arrangement of twin gables, cross-gabled roofs, and a central entrance.

[15] Most residences in Toronto during the early 19th century were two-or-three-storey Georgian-styled homes, although a small number of English-styled villas were also built in the city, such as the two-gabled wing Berkeley House.

[17] Developers like Gundry and Langley later produced a substantial number of detached one-and-a-half storey bay-and-gables during the 1870s; with many of these homes based in Cabbagetown, The Annex, and Yorkville.

[17] Many of these homes were later used as models for mass-produced terraced bay-and-gables built for the working class during the late 19th century given the design's inexpensive but expressive facades.

[18] Earlier homes were influenced by a mix of Italianate and Gothic Revival elements, such as round-headed windows, angled bays, and steep gables.

[17] The bay-and-gable style was selected by developers in Toronto as the design could be scaled to fit narrow lots, and could therefore be built in quantities that could keep pace with the population boom.

[10] Mass-produced timber frames were used to speed up the construction of units without compromising the stability of the buildings; with developers having expected the eventual homeowners to brick the remaining portions when they could afford it.

A semi-detached bay-and-gable in Toronto. The design features a prominent bay window aligned to the front gable .
Bay-and-gable row homes in Little Portugal, Toronto , individualized by colour
Terraced half-bay-and-gable. The half-bay-and-gable is a variant of the housing form, where the bay window only fronts the first level, and does not extend to the roof.
A semi-detached bay-and-gable with a front porch built at the front entrance
Berkeley House in Toronto prior to its demolition in 1924. The bay-and-gable design is believed to have been influenced by 19th-century villas like Berkeley House.
Row of half bay-and-gables bricked in red and white, a common colour used for the housing form in the 19th century