House Hunting in Canada: A Victorian Italianate Jewel Outside Toronto

A Four-Bedroom Italianate House Near Toronto

$1.98 MILLION (2.495 MILLION CANADIAN DOLLARS)

This four-bedroom house with a distinctive central tower sits on a hill in the historic town of Port Hope, about an hour east of Toronto, on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Built in 1875 by the proprietor of a billiards saloon, the home is known as one of the “three sisters” — brick homes of similar late-Victorian design aligned in a row above Augusta Street — said Martha Grant, an agent with the Heaps Estrin Team, which has the listing.

The current owners “have never stopped working on this property since they bought it in 2014,” Ms. Grant said. “It’s been a labor of love for them.”

Because the home is designated as a heritage property, under the Ontario Heritage Act, any alterations to the exterior require approval from the municipality. Port Hope, which was a bustling center of trade during the late 19th century, has more than 200 heritage properties.

The red double-doors at the home’s main entrance are topped by a decorative arched lintel. They open into a narrow hallway that leads to the main foyer (currently used as a dining area), with a large bay window overlooking the street and a curved wooden staircase. All of the first-floor rooms have 11-foot ceilings, Ms. Grant said.

To the right, another set of double doors opens to the formal living room with a fireplace. French doors at the back of the room open to the garden.

Through an arched hallway beneath the staircase, the family room adjoins the eat-in kitchen, where the wood cabinetry is original to the home and has been fully restored, Ms. Grant said. The kitchen also has a vaulted ceiling, soapstone countertops, in-floor heating and a second staircase. It can be accessed from the back entrance.

On the second floor, the primary bedroom has a wall of closets and shares a large bathroom with another bedroom, currently used as an office. A reading nook in the tower space has floor-to-ceiling shelving and a small balcony.

Two more bedrooms and a bathroom with a claw foot tub are on the third floor. The tower nook on this floor has views of Lake Ontario.

A side door in the front entry hall opens to the wraparound porch. The professionally landscaped grounds, roughly a half-acre, include a large patio in back and stone walls that were hand-laid by a local stone artist, John Shaw-Rimmington.

Located at the west end of Northumberland County, Port Hope is home to Trinity College School, one of…