Willowbank

Willowbank Canada’s leading School of Heritage Conservation - combining theory with applied learning.

Meet the makers joining us at Willowbank!As part of our 20th Anniversary celebrations, we’re bringing together a group o...
09/02/2026

Meet the makers joining us at Willowbank!
As part of our 20th Anniversary celebrations, we’re bringing together a group of local makers, craftspeople, and vendors for a special Vendor Market on the grounds of Willowbank.

Swipe through to meet some of the people who will be joining us and get a glimpse of what they’ll be bringing with them.

From handmade work to traditional craft, it’s a chance to shop local, meet the people behind the work, and spend an afternoon at Willowbank.
�📅 September 19, 2026�🕰️ 1-5PM�📍 14487 Niagara River Pkwy, Queenston, ON L0S 1L0
We hope you’ll come by, meet the makers, and celebrate with us!

Come hungry! 🔥 PigOut Catering Catering will be joining us at Willowbank for a pig roast from 6–8 p.m. as part of our 20...
08/31/2026

Come hungry! 🔥

PigOut Catering Catering will be joining us at Willowbank for a pig roast from 6–8 p.m. as part of our 20th Anniversary Evening Celebration.

Grab some food, enjoy a local b**r from Niagara Oast House Brewers, and settle in for an evening of live music with the WoodshedOrchestra on the grounds of Willowbank.

📅 September 19, 2026
🔥 Pig Roast | 6–8 p.m.
📍 14487 Niagara River Pkwy, Queenston, ON L0S 1L0

Make an evening of it and celebrate 20 years of Willowbank with us. Tickets for this fundraiser are $20. Link in bio for more info.

Bring the whole family to Willowbank for a day of exploring, activities, food, and fun as we celebrate our 20th Annivers...
08/29/2026

Bring the whole family to Willowbank for a day of exploring, activities, food, and fun as we celebrate our 20th Anniversary!

Our Open House is free to attend, with activities throughout the day for visitors of all ages. Kids can stop by Michael’s Craft Station, explore the grounds, and discover a little more about what happens here at Willowbank.

We’ll also have BBQ from PigOut Catering Catering and ice cream from Marble Slab Creamery Canada available for purchase throughout the day.

📅 September 19, 2026
🕰️ 1-5PM
📍 14487 Niagara River Pkwy, Queenston, ON L0S 1L0

Come spend the day with us and help celebrate 20 years of Willowbank!

Join us for an evening of live music at Willowbank as part of our 20th Anniversary celebrations!We’re excited to welcome...
08/27/2026

Join us for an evening of live music at Willowbank as part of our 20th Anniversary celebrations!

We’re excited to welcome Woodshed Orchestra for an evening performance on the grounds of Willowbank. Gather with us for live music and good food, celebrating 20 years of learning, craft, and community.

Even better, proceeds from ticket sales will be matched by a generous grant, doubling the impact of your support for Willowbank.

Tickets $20, link in bio for more info!

Come celebrate 20 years of Willowbank with us!

Despite the heat and rain, work continues at Willowbank! Over the last few months we've gotten a glimpse  inside the wal...
08/12/2026

Despite the heat and rain, work continues at Willowbank!

Over the last few months we've gotten a glimpse inside the walls and beneath the floors!
Massive old-growth floor joists have been removed to make way for the stair case and the drywall has been stripped from the kitchen walls to reveal the masonry.

Outside, Two River's Restoration's team has been removing damaged stones and testing mortar for repairs on the North-West wall.

Don't worry, those floor joists are not going to go to waste 😉

We are *ecstatic* to announce that we have been successful in our grant application to .canada and have secured a matchi...
07/06/2026

We are *ecstatic* to announce that we have been successful in our grant application to .canada and have secured a matching grant of up to $193,000 to support two critical projects at the Willowbank National Historic Site: the stabilization and restoration of the northwest wall and the construction of a new internal fire stair.

The funding is being provided through the National Cost-Sharing Program for Heritage Places, which supports the protection of national historic sites, heritage lighthouses and heritage railway stations across Canada.

Through the funding agreement, the Government of Canada will contribute up to 50% of eligible project costs, to a maximum of $193,000. We have until 31 March 2027 to raise the funds and to make sure that no money is left on the table !

As our fundraising efforts to unlock the full $193,000 investment get underway, we are delighted to share that The Soudack Family has made an extraordinarily generous gift of $18,000 towards the restoration of the Willowbank Manor House.

Thanks to the matching commitment their gift will effectively become $36,000.

“We are proud to support Willowbank’s restoration campaign, helping to secure the future of this remarkable School and the community it serves for generations to come.”
— The Soudack Family

We are deeply grateful for their generosity and hope it will inspire others to join us.

Will you help us unlock the full $193,000 investment?

Donate through the link in our bio. For larger gifts, we kindly encourage donations by cheque or e-transfer, helping Willowbank reduce processing fees and ensuring more of your gift goes directly towards our work. Thank you!

Willowbank at the 2026 Ontario Heritage Conference! Some of our students represented Willowbank this past weekend at the...
06/24/2026

Willowbank at the 2026 Ontario Heritage Conference!

Some of our students represented Willowbank this past weekend at the Traditional Trades fair during the Ontario Heritage Conference.
They ran a booth where they displayed and discussed student projects such as masonry, stained glass, carpentry and more.
They also helped demonstrate some faux marbling with our historic faux finishes instructor, Lori Le Mare . This particular marbling is based on a faux finish found on a historic layer of Willowbank's interior walls!

This week, 2nd year student Ellen Siebel-Achenbach presented the Wilderness conservation management plan at the  SSAC (S...
05/30/2026

This week, 2nd year student Ellen Siebel-Achenbach presented the Wilderness conservation management plan at the SSAC (Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada) conference in Saint John, New Brunswick. The presentation was included in her session “Hometown Heritage,” celebrating local collaborations and organizations that preserve heritage in communities across Canada. Ellen is a board member with the Society, and hopes to continue to share local heritage success stories with national audiences.

Our final week of the school year just finished at Willowbank! 1st year students gave an excellent presentation of their...
04/19/2026

Our final week of the school year just finished at Willowbank!
1st year students gave an excellent presentation of their Studio project to their client, the Mackenzie family.
2nd year students learned about stone conservation with Keith Blades and also got to visit the Traditional Cut Stone workshop in Toronto.
Finally the students had a movie night to close out the year.

It was a wonderful week at Willowbank! We celebrated Homecoming which drew almost 100 people from across our community; ...
04/13/2026

It was a wonderful week at Willowbank! We celebrated Homecoming which drew almost 100 people from across our community; students, prospective students, alum, faculty, partners, board members, supporters and friends.

Julian Smith - Chair - addressed the audience with his reflections on the importance of people and place.

Katie Houghton - Executive Director - shared developments on fundraising efforts, including introducing Sam Trigila to the community; Sam is the Chair of our Philanthropic Strategic Capital Campaign committee and his role and the committee is crucial to the sustainability of Willowbank.

We also want to extend our sincere gratitude to for donating w**e to the event and to for donating b**r.

Our second year students also presented their capstone project, a Conservation Managment Plan of The Wilderness in Niagara-on-the-Lake, providing an overview of the site, its history, structural assessments and ideas for adaptive reuse. Now, on to the final week of term!

Address

14487 Niagara Parkway
Queenston, ON
L0S1L0

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