Ontario's oldest known Métis home is crossing Georgian Bay this week

For nearly 200 years, a squared-log house has stood at Thunder Beach in the Township of Tiny. This week it is going on a trip. Labatte House, which the Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) calls the oldest known still-standing historic Métis home in Ontario, is being lifted from its lot on West Shore Drive, carried to the water, floated by barge and brought back on land to a permanent new home at 159 Balm Beach Road East. ¹

It is a rare sight. It is also the latest chapter in a story that began on an island in Lake Huron almost two centuries ago.

Who were the Labattes?

The Labattes are one of the many Upper Great Lakes Métis families who moved from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in the late 1820s, after the British handed the island over to the United States. ¹ The British garrison moved to the new post at Penetanguishene in 1828, and about 75 families of voyageurs followed over that year and the years after. They were granted lots along Penetanguishene Bay, and many settled in what is now Tiny Township. ²

Louis-George Labatte, whom the MNO describes as a Métis veteran of the War of 1812, built the house at Thunder Beach in 1834 with his family. ¹ His son Antoine, born on Drummond Island in 1824, told his family's story to historian A.C. Osborne for a 1901 Ontario Historical Society paper, "The Migration of Voyageurs from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828." ²³ A French-language account in Le Goût de vivre says the family's boat was forced ashore at Thunder Bay (the bay at Thunder Beach, called baie du Tonnerre in French) in December 1834 and that Labatte decided to settle there. ⁴ Antoine's 1901 account is close: in 1834 a storm and thick ice stopped the family's trip, they landed at "Thunder Bay (Tiny)," built a place to winter in, then built a log house. ²

The family stayed tied to the wider Métis world. Louis-George's son Michel carried mail between Penetanguishene and Sault Ste. Marie in the mid-1800s. In 1840, Louis-George and Michel were among the people who petitioned the Crown to recognize the Georgian Bay Métis Community's distinct identity and rights, and Michel later signed the 1850 Sault Ste. Marie Métis petition. ¹ Today, many MNO citizens from the Georgian Bay Métis Community trace their roots to the Labatte family. ¹

Generations of Labattes lived in the house until it was sold outside the family in the early 1900s. ¹

Why is it moving?

For more than a century the house has been on private land, so any access for the Georgian Bay Métis Community depended on the goodwill of its owners. ¹ The MNO says the Hardcastle-Roebuck family cared for it well and cooperated throughout the transfer. ¹ Back in 2022, a request to take the property off Tiny's heritage register caused alarm, but owner Anne Hardcastle-Roebuck told council, "I would never demolish this cottage." ⁵

Earlier this fall the MNO bought the house. It says Thunder Beach, ideal for the Labattes in 1834, is not suitable today for public access or for preserving the house long term as a public historic site. ¹ The MNO's Provisional Council supported the move unanimously, and the project follows a 2023 Annual General Assembly strategy on preserving Métis stories and histories. ¹

The Township of Tiny had a role too. At a special meeting on Sept. 22, 2026, council adopted a Heritage Advisory Committee recommendation that the notice to demolish or remove be received with no action under the Ontario Heritage Act, and that staff be directed to remove 89 West Shore Drive from the Municipal Heritage Register, "thereby enabling the removal." That was adopted unanimously, according to the Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations' council reports. ⁶ The MNO says it will ask the township to designate the house as a municipal heritage building once it is settled on its new site. ¹

The new site

The new property at 159 Balm Beach Road East, near Perkinsfield, is described by the MNO as centrally located and accessible. ¹⁴⁸ The long-term plan is a place where people can gather, learn and connect with the history and culture of the Labatte family, the Georgian Bay Métis Community and the broader Upper Great Lakes Métis. ¹ A third-party summary of a township Heritage Advisory Committee agenda package describes intended museum and educational use. ⁷

Timeline

These are the MNO's posted dates, which it says may change because of weather and site conditions. ¹

• 1820s: Métis families move from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene after the island is ceded to the United States. ¹²
• 1834: Louis-George Labatte and his family build the house at Thunder Beach. ¹
• 1840: Louis-George and Michel Labatte sign a petition seeking recognition of the Georgian Bay Métis Community. ¹
• Early 1900s: The house is sold outside the Labatte family. ¹
• Sept. 22, 2026: Tiny council directs staff to remove the property from the heritage register, clearing the way for the move. ⁶
• Sept. 28, 2026: Preparation is scheduled to begin at the old site (Le Goût de vivre reports it began Sept. 29). ¹⁴
• Oct. 19, 2026: The house is expected to be moved to the beach and readied for the barge. ¹
• Oct. 22, 2026: The house is expected to come ashore and travel to its final location. ¹
• Oct. 24, 2026, 1 to 3 p.m.: Community gathering to celebrate its arrival at 159 Balm Beach Rd. E. ⁸

Why it matters here

Tiny is often thought of as a cottage township, but its roots run deep into Métis, French-Canadian and Wendat history. The Drummond Island families helped shape Penetanguishene, Lafontaine and the Tiny shoreline, and in 1901 Osborne found many of their descendants still living in Tiny. ² Moving Labatte House inland does not erase its Thunder Beach story. The MNO says that history "will remain an important part of the story shared" about the house. ¹ What changes is access. For the first time in more than 100 years, the house will be in Métis hands, and the MNO plans to make it accessible to Métis citizens and the public. ¹

There is a fair debate, too. Le Goût de vivre asked whether a building keeps the same meaning once it is taken from its original site. ⁴ That question is worth sitting with, and the answer may come from the Métis citizens who will now look after it.

If you plan to watch, the MNO asks people to stay off both sites, since they are active construction zones. ¹

Questions People Ask

All answers are current as of October 21, 2026. The MNO says its dates may change because of weather and site conditions.

I live in Tiny, and stories like this are a big part of why I love this community. If you have questions about the area, I'm always happy to chat.

Sources

1. Métis Nation of Ontario, "Preserving Labatte House for Future Generations": link
2. A.C. Osborne, "The Migration of Voyageurs from Drummond Island to Penetanguishene in 1828," Ontario Historical Society Papers and Records, Vol. 3 (1901), pp. 123-166. Full text: full text transcription (transcription site was unreachable from a direct connection on Oct. 20, 2026)
3. Canadiana record for Osborne's paper: link
4. Le Goût de vivre, "La maison Labatte va quitter la baie du Tonnerre" (Oct. 15, 2026): link
5. Midland Today, "'I would never demolish' Labatte homestead, says Tiny owner" (Feb. 3, 2022): link
6. The Tiny Cottager / FoTTSA, Tiny council reports, September 2026: link
7. CivicIQ (third-party, automated) summary of Township of Tiny agenda item (Sept. 2, 2026): link
8. MNO, "Celebrate the Arrival of Labatte House" (Oct. 13, 2026): link