Tucked away on residential streets, in the middle of Toronto neighbourhoods are farmhouses hundreds of years old. These stone houses and log cabins would have looked out over acres and acres of forest and farmland when they were first built. Now, they sit next to modern bungalows, busy roads and coffee shops. They each represent a tiny piece of the country swallowed up by the city.

John Cox House, 1795 — Broadview Ave. in Riverdale

Then: The former village of York was parceled out in 200-acre land grants with the goal of creating farms that could grow food to supply the city. John Cox got the parcel of land next to John Scadding’s and built a south-facing log cabin. It would have looked out over rolling land freshly cleared of forest, and mud tracks instead of roads. Gerald Whyte of the Riverdale Historical Society says the Cox house is the oldest continuously inhabited dwelling in Toronto. Being made of wood, most farm cottages burned down or were knocked down by new land owners to build something more substantial. “Being this close to the city you’d think it would be part of the city, but it never really was,” says Whyte. “For over 200 years this has been sitting here from when nothing was around it, to look at it.”

Now: Don Procter and his wife began looking for a house about 12 years ago. He’d read about the Cox house and become intrigued. She suggested driving by an interesting Riverdale home she’d heard about — it turned out to be the same one and there was a “For Sale” sign out front. It was obviously destiny. Procter says friends tried to discourage them from buying what was then a slightly rundown, mildly mouldy house. But he got a heritage grant to fix up the place and renovate it in period style. He put in “six over six” paned windows and an addition constructed out of an 1850 log cabin that was dismantled in Port Hope and reconstructed here. During renovations, Procter exposed the original log wall and a brick door frame that is now at floor level but would have been the exit from the basement.

Keele House, 1880 — Mavety St. in The Junction

Then: The Toronto Turf Club established its headquarters on the quiet estate of William Conway Keele in what was then the Toronto suburb known as Carlton, according to the West Toronto Junction Historical Society’s David Wencer. The very first Queen’s Plate horse race was run on a mile-long track on the property in 1860. About 20 years later, William Conway Keele died and his son, Charles, built the house now on Mavety Ave. It would have been in view of the racetrack and wooden stands.

Now: You’d never know this was a historical gem. The home has been visually split into two with two separate addresses. One side is red brick, the other yellow stucco with just a small connecting passage in between. The best glimpse of its history is gained by sneaking down the laneway and looking up. The old brick window frames and bargeboards are intact. From the front, the house looks like any other on the street.

Jacob Ross House, 1855 — Stayner Ave. in North York

Then: Jacob Ross built the red brick home on his 200-acre farm in 1855 and sold it to John Anderson in 1886. Anderson and his wife, Rosamunde, raised pigs and grew hay and wheat on the property east of the Humber River. Madeleine McDowell, of Heritage York, has several notes and letters written by Rosamunde. “For years my husband drew his loads of hay to the hay market down near the waterfront at Queen and Spadina,” reads one of the handwritten notes. “We took our wheat to be ground into flour to Lambton Mill.”

Now: The large brick house has two entrances; the former main entrance faces perpendicular to the street. “That was all open” until about 5 years ago, says McDowell. “When you looked at it, it was obviously the old farmhouse.” Now, Stayner Ave. is a busy residential street with many two-storey houses on narrow lots.

William Devenish House, 1845 — Victoria Park Ave. in Scarborough

Then: Built in 1845, the home stood on a 200-acre lot that Devenish had to clear of pine so that he could farm and look after his wife and 11 children. "Life was very lonely as there were few other settlers. In order that he might have a neighbour, Devenish is reported to have offered another settler, named Folgie, a lifelong lease on 100 acres on his farm for one shilling a year. The deal was quite simple and William had secured a neighbour," says Rick Schofield of the Scarborough Historical Society.

Now: A wishing well sits in front of the house, which now faces busy Victoria Park Ave. The fieldstone house is small and set back from the road, but sticks out nevertheless from the surrounding small brick bungalows.

William Thomson House, 1848 — St. Andrews Rd. in Scarborough

Then: The large house made of grey fieldstone was built into the side of a hill for protection from the bitter northwest winds. “The main west facade is single-storey and is divided into five bays, symmetrically arranged about the central entrance. The east facade is exposed at two levels, with five windows across the top and two windows on each side of the central doorway that leads into a large room with huge fireplace, which no doubt served as the original kitchen,” says Schofield.

Now: The home was one of the first in Scarborough to gain heritage designation. Drive in from McCowan Rd. past St. Andrew’s Church and the cemetery and the leafy trees and a narrow winding road give the impression that you’re leaving the city. At the end of St. Andrew’s, the William Thomson House is set back from the road with a driveway leading up to what would have been the side of the old house. Tall trees and a fence almost completely hide it from the traffic whizzing by on Brimley Rd.

Elm Bank, 1833 — Jason Rd. in Beaumonde Heights

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Then: John Grubb built the large stone house in 1833 with stone brought up from the Humber River valley. He arrived in Canada at age 50 with eight children in tow. There is a smaller house in front of the main building that was built between 1802 and 1820, but no one really knows who built it, says current resident and Grubb descendant Michael Fitzgerald. “They were basically farmers doing the various crops,” says Fitzgerald. The property was home to a distillery on the Albion ridge and Grubb, originally a builder from Scotland, also presided as reeve and magistrate over the court at Thistletown.

Now: Grubb (and then Grubbe) descendant Fitzgerald — “That’s my great-great-great-grandfather, three greats, on my mother’s side” — has been living on the property for 35 years. He rented it from his grandmother while in university and never left. Fitzgerald had the house officially designated a heritage site four years ago, which he says may devalue the property, but won him an award from the Etobicoke Historical Society. The good-sized (for 2011) lot backs onto the Humber Valley. A large back porch (which likely used to be the front porch) provides a shady place to sit and enjoy the view. “It’s got great vibes. It’s always been a great party house,” says the lucky owner.