Gibson House Museum

Gibson House Museum at 5172 Yonge St in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, is a Georgian-style brick farmhouse completed in 1851 for David Gibson, a surveyor and farmer. Gibson, born in Scotland, came to Upper Canada in the 1820s and served as a member of the provincial legislature. He took part in the 1837 Rebellion led by William Lyon Mackenzie, fled to the United States after its defeat, and returned after a pardon. He built this house on his farm on Yonge Street a few years later. The house stayed with the Gibson family until 1920s and was later bought by the former township of North York, which opened it as a museum in the 1970s. It is now run by the City of Toronto. The interiors show the life of a prosperous mid-nineteenth-century farm family, and rooms are furnished with period objects including a parlour, a dining room, bedrooms and a kitchen with a wood stove. Architecturally it is a well-proportioned two-storey house with a symmetrical front, sash windows and a central door, which was typical of rural Ontario homes of the period. The kitchen and summer kitchen illustrate how food was prepared and preserved, and the grounds contain a garden and landscape that suggest the farm context in what is now a dense urban neighbourhood, close to North York's high-rise towers. Interpretation is largely thematic, covering farming, family life and the rebellion, through guided tours, school programs and seasonal events such as harvest and holiday activities. Opening days vary, and the museum is typically open on weekend afternoons, so visitors should check the City of Toronto museum listings. The house sits a short walk from the North York Centre subway station on TTC Line 1.