Built around 1800 by Scottish settler John McFarland on land granted by the Crown, McFarland House is the oldest property in the Niagara Parks collection and a rare survivor of the widespread destruction that swept the region during the War of 1812. Its strategic riverside location led both armies to commandeer it as a hospital and headquarters, and it endured even as nearby Newark was burned in 1813.
Restored in the mid-twentieth century and furnished in period Empire style, the house now interprets daily life in Niagara between roughly 1800 and 1830 through guided tours led by costumed interpreters. Heritage gardens surround the building and a glass-enclosed conservatory tea room serves light meals, all set within a riverside park along the Niagara Parkway recreation trail.
