An 1834 Métis home built near the Canadian shoreline is beginning a new chapter after being moved across Georgian Bay.
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home → build → Bay
Its private owner sold the historic building for just $2 to help create a heritage museum.
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owner → sell → museum
Known as the Labatte House, the building weighs about 75,000 pounds.
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building → know → pounds
It was placed on a special barge at Thunder Beach, Ontario, and carried across the water to Balm Beach.
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It → place → Beach
The move aims to protect what is believed to be Ontario’s oldest surviving historic Métis home.
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what → aim → ?
Louis-George Labatte and his family built the timber and stone house in 1834.
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Labatte → build → 1834
It offers a direct link to the early history of settlement around the Great Lakes.
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It → offer → Lakes
The Métis Nation of Ontario organised the move to protect the building from damage caused by age or possible redevelopment of the original site.
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Nation → organise → site
Navigating the shoreline journey
Moving a historic building weighing 75,000 pounds across open water required careful planning and special equipment.
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Moving → navigate → planning
Moving crews used hydraulic jacks and steel beams to lift the single-storey house from its original foundations.
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crews → move → foundations
Once the house was raised, the crew moved it onto a heavy-duty transport trailer.
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crew → raise → trailer
They then drove it onto a large barge waiting near the shore at Thunder Beach.
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They → drive → Beach
The barge carried the building across Georgian Bay towards Balm Beach.
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barge → carry → Beach
Weather conditions along the bay needed close attention throughout the journey.
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conditions → need → journey
Strong winds and rough waves could have affected the balance of the barge and put the building at risk.
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winds → affect → risk
The vessel reached Balm Beach safely, where workers unloaded the house for transport over land.
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workers → reach → land
Securing a cultural haven
The decision to move the house was driven by limits at its original location.
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decision → secure → location
Thunder Beach had offered a suitable home for the Labatte family in 1834, but the privately owned site lacked enough space and facilities for public visits, parking and long-term preservation work.
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site → offer → visits
Recognising the building's historical importance, the private owner agreed to sell it to the Métis Nation of Ontario for the symbolic price of $2.
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owner → recognise → 2
The house was moved to a 39-acre property at 159 Balm Beach Road East.
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house → move → Road
The larger site offers space for restoring the land, creating walking trails and building modern educational facilities around the historic home.
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site → offer → home
Saving the house is about more than protecting an old building.
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Saving → save → building
Organisers say physical reminders of early Métis settlement are rare across the Great Lakes region.
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reminders → say → region
"We cannot replace this.
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We → replace → this
This is a living testimony to the fact that the Métis here in Ontario existed, and that we still exist," said Mitch Anderson, a representative speaking on behalf of the preservation project, in comments reported by news outlet Collingwood Today.
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Anderson → live → Today
Workers have placed the house on a temporary support frame at the Balm Beach property.
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Workers → place → property
Plans call for a permanent concrete foundation to be poured in spring 2027.
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foundation → call → spring
After that, restoration work will focus on the timber frame, roof and stonework inside the building.
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work → focus → building
Once the work is complete, the house will become the main feature of a planned museum and cultural centre dedicated to Indigenous and Métis history in the region.
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house → become → region
Exhibits are expected to include 19th-century trade tools, household objects and historical documents that tell the story of the Métis community around Georgian Bay.
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that → expect → Bay
The Métis Nation of Ontario has confirmed plans to apply for official municipal heritage designation through the Township of Tiny once the house is placed on its permanent foundation.
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house → confirm → foundation
This status would offer legal protection against future demolition or changes to the building's structure.
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status → offer → structure
Community members and descendants of the Labatte family gathered at the new site in Balm Beach to mark the house's safe arrival.
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members → gather → arrival
Restoration teams expect early work on the site and repairs to the building's exterior to continue over the coming months.
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work → expect → months
The Aporia
