I started looking at books about Ontario architecture, built heritage, today because Shannon Kyles has written a book. Shannon has kept a site about Ontario architecture since 1999.

Her father, Lloyd Douglas Kyles, and her grandfather, John Douglas Kyles, were prominent Hamilton architects whose firm, Kyles and Kyles — and later Kyles, Kyles and Garrett — helped shape the city with schools, hospitals, banks and corporate offices.

Before starting his own practice, J.D. Kyles worked for the architectural firm Prack and Prack, where he contributed to major projects, including Westdale High School and the landmark Pigott Building on James Street South.

“We were brought up looking at buildings. That’s just what we did,” Shannon says. While Kyles, 70, didn’t become a licensed architect — the field, she says, was unwelcoming to women during her university years — she has devoted her career to celebrating Ontario’s architectural heritage and advocating for the historic buildings that remain.

Kyles is president of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario’s Hamilton chapter, and for the past several years has managed the city’s annual Doors Open Hamilton event, which allows public access to prominent buildings normally closed to visitors. This year, however, she stepped back from the event to concentrate on other projects.

Kyles taught history of Ontario architecture to building trades and architectural technology students at Mohawk College for many years before retiring in 2023. In 1999, she launched ontarioarchitecture.com, a non-profit resource of building heritage information. She has also restored heritage buildings herself — most notably a 200-year-old Regency cottage in Ancaster that was destined for demolition.

“The book has pretty pictures and identification of styles, but I also tried to make people aware of the idea behind the building, and where people were coming from,” she says.

In many ways, the book is the culmination of her life’s work, drawing content from the classes she taught, the website she built and the hands-on restoration projects she undertook.

The Hamilton Spectator - Opinion | Shannon Kyles wants you to appreciate Hamilton architecture

Canadian Institute for Historical Education - Episode 31: Shannon Kyles on The Story on Ontario Architecture - podcast

The book is structured chronologically, beginning with a look at Indigenous longhouses shaped by climate and local materials, early colonial log buildings... ... illustrated with over 1,200 photographs, most of which were taken by Kyles herself from the 1990s to 2025.

Canadian Architect - Book Review: The Story of Ontario Architecture: What We Built and Why We Built It

In the end, I did buy the book. It is too expensive for me, but I did it anyway. Part impulse, part obsession, partly hoarding some would say. I have a small book trolley with all books about Ontario history, especially built heritage. But, I haven't been out there, taking photos of old places (seriously and happily) for years. I still want to see them, the old places, but a photo is not at all like being there.

Part of getting old seems to be seeing the things you love become extinct. Tea cups and saucers, clocks, books, hand sewing and embroidery, hand written letters, postcards, birthday cards, silver sets, so many things disappearing or becoming unwanted by the younger generations as they come along with new technology.

But, I notice the old things I love still last longer than the new things coming along. Maybe not in purpose but in strength and durability. New technology is made to break and be replaced. Can it be loved like the old things when it isn't made to last? I don't think there is enough time before a new one is needed and the old hits the landfill.