Painted Ladies of Grimsby Beach

Grimsby Beach began in the mid-1800s as a Methodist camp-meeting ground, where seasonal tents gradually gave way to permanent wood-frame cottages arranged around a central auditorium green. Over the following century many fell into disrepair, until a wave of restoration beginning in the 1980s revived them with elaborate scrollwork and bold, multi-colour paint schemes, earning them the nickname the Painted Ladies; several are now recognized as protected heritage properties. Because these are private, lived-in homes on narrow one-way lanes with very limited parking, visitors are asked to leave their cars offsite, explore respectfully on foot, and view the houses only from the public roadway.