Residential Archives | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

Silent video – Blake Footage – Shingling on Stewart Street

In this short clip, someone took John’s camera and filmed Wilf Worley (in white cap) and John Blake (end of clip) shingling houses . With the Niagara Escarpment […]

The Lindsay

On a visit to the Lindsay co-op, the Grimsby builders were inspired by the 4-bedroom house plan. In the co-op spirit, the plan was shared with them. In […]

Father Marrocco and fellow priests blessed each of the 14 homes.

On the completion of their neighbourhood, Father Marrocco and fellow priests blessed the 14 homes of the Family Home Builder Co-operative on Marysfield Dr. near Brampton. With the […]

Brother and sister on the steps

Children in the co-op neighbourhood were inevitably photographed on their front steps.

The Lakedale Co-op worksite

They worked through the winter and by the summer of 1956, all the families would be moved into their co-operatively built homes. Workers would make frequent visits to […]

ISA students as co-op builders

It’s important to note that the students of the ISA were motivated by social action, not by the building of houses. The ISA night courses encouraged thought, discussion […]

Marrocco Homebuilding Co-operative Society at a gathering with Father Marrocco

Gerald Clarke, was the chief editor of A Guide to Co-operative Housing, which was researched and created by the adult night school students of the Institute of Social […]

Tompkinsville : North America’s first housing co-operative

The builders and their families named their community “Tompkinsville” to honour Father Jimmy Tompkins, the man who had encouraged their co-operative spirit. Theirs was the first housing co-operative […]

Co-op homebuilding, Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia

The co-operative homebuilders in Reserve Mines studied and prepared for two years, arranging the finances and finally building their first home together, and then the second. All 11 […]

Sherbrien and Cathedral Heights co-operators

Although John Blake captured most of the men at the work site on 8 mm film, this is a rare group photo. Don Gay (far right) is holding […]

The completed subdivision in Grimsby, 1956

An aerial view of the co-operatively built neighbourhood in Grimsby, 1956. Situated between Lake Ontario with the Niagara Escarpment to the south, it was appropriately named the Lakemount […]

City of Hamilton Ontario, 1950’s

This aerial view of Hamilton Ontario in the early 1950’s shows an industrial city that was booming. With the influx of workers, the city was also sprawling yet […]