Every home currently listed in St. Marys, updated through the day, plus what living in Stonetown is actually like before you book a showing.
St. Marys sits southwest of Stratford where the Thames River meets Trout Creek. The Canada Company sent a surveyor into Blanshard Township in 1839 to choose the site, and the first settlers arrived in the early 1840s. The river cascaded over a series of limestone ledges here, which powered the first mills and gave the place its original name, Little Falls.
The limestone is why people still call it Stonetown. The town hall from 1891, the Carnegie library from 1905 and the heritage house that is now the museum are all built from it, along with a large share of the housing stock. Very few Ontario towns this size have a downtown this intact, and it is the main reason buyers come looking here rather than somewhere cheaper.
It is also administratively its own thing. When Perth County collapsed fourteen municipalities into four in 1998, St. Marys and Stratford were left out of it, so the town has its own mayor and six councillors. The local economy is more diversified than most towns out here too, running to cement, auto components, food processing and pet supplies rather than farming alone.
I sell across Perth and Huron and St. Marys is a market I watch closely. The limestone houses are beautiful and they are not all equal. Some have been looked after properly and some will cost you real money to put right. If you are coming from London or Stratford, I will tell you honestly which streets are worth the premium and which are not.
For a town of seven thousand there is a surprising spread here, from limestone heritage to new builds on the edges.
The heritage core. Limestone commercial buildings, the town hall and the Carnegie library, and older housing on the surrounding blocks. Walkable to everything, and the part of town people photograph.
The streets looking over the Thames valley, with direct access to the Riverview Walkway. Mature lots and some of the better views in town.
Closest to the swimming quarry, the Pyramid Recreation Centre and the Lind Sportsplex. This is where families with kids in hockey or swimming tend to want to be.
Newer subdivision housing on the outer streets, and beyond the boundary you are into Perth South farmland toward Kirkton, Motherwell and Rannoch. Acreages and hobby farms turn up out there.
Not sure which suits you? Tell me what you are after and I will narrow it down.
St. Marys punches well above its size on things to actually do, and two of them are old quarries.
A limestone quarry abandoned around 1920 that filled with water and became a swimming spot in the thirties. The town bought it in 1945 along with fifty acres around it. It is Canada’s largest outdoor freshwater swimming pool, with cliff jumping, paddle board rentals, sand volleyball and a water trampoline.
Genuinely unusual for a town this size.
A second quarry on the other side of the highway, converted for fishing. Common carp, pumpkinseed and rock bass. No swimming in the fishing hole and no fishing in the swimming hole, which locals will tell you about once.
Two quarries, two rules.
On Church Street South, set in a thirty two acre diamond complex. The induction ceremony each June is open to the public, which is a bigger day in town than people outside it realise.
Free parking, seasonal hours.
The Riverview Walkway traces the Thames for about two and a half kilometres from the middle of town out to the quarry. Wildwood Conservation Area nearby adds camping, boating, fishing and hiking.
Plus the Grand Trunk Trail.
St. Marys is off the main routes rather than on them, which is a large part of why the downtown survived intact.
The nearest larger centre. St. Marys sits southwest of it, where the Thames meets Trout Creek.
Close enough that St. Marys is a standard day trip from London, and a standard commute in the other direction.
Up through the Perth South and West Perth farmland.
Wildwood Conservation Area, with camping, boating, fishing and hiking.
The Grand Trunk arriving is what made the town. The old Junction station is now a national historic site.
Kirkton, Motherwell, Rannoch and Avonton, where most of the acreages and hobby farms are.
Online estimates don’t know your kitchen was redone, or what the house down the street actually sold for. I do. Send me the address and I’ll put a real number together for you, personally.
Run your own numbers first. This uses the federal stress test rate, so what it gives you is closer to what a lender will actually approve than most online calculators.
Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
An estimate for planning only, not a mortgage approval or financial advice. It assumes property taxes near 1.3 percent of the purchase price, 150 dollars a month for heat, and the standard 39 and 44 percent debt service ratios. Your actual approval depends on your credit, employment, the property itself, and your lender’s own rules. Talk to a mortgage professional for real numbers, and I am happy to introduce you to a few I trust.
Down payments, closing costs, land transfer tax, and what actually happens at each stage. Written for buyers in Perth and Huron, not a generic national handout.
Prices move month to month, so rather than quote a stale number I would rather give you the current figure for what you are actually looking at. Send me a street or a property type and I will pull the real comparables the same day.
Because of the local limestone. The town hall from 1891, the Carnegie library from 1905 and the heritage house that is now the museum are all built from it, along with a large share of the older housing. The river originally cascaded over limestone ledges here, which is also where the first name, Little Falls, came from.
It suits people who want a genuinely intact heritage downtown and a full set of services in a town of about seven thousand. It has its own council rather than sitting under Perth County, its own library, an arena and pool at the Pyramid Recreation Centre, and Canada’s largest outdoor freshwater swimming pool in an old quarry.
Limestone and brick heritage homes through the downtown blocks, mid century houses across the established streets, newer subdivision builds toward the edges, and acreages and hobby farms once you cross into Perth South toward Kirkton and Motherwell.
The Avon Maitland District School Board and the Huron Perth Catholic District School Board both serve the town, and St. Marys DCVI is the local secondary school. Catchments matter if a specific school is important to you, so check before you write an offer.
That is a good part of what I do. I will walk you through the difference between the heritage streets, the river side and the newer edges, be honest about what the older stone houses actually cost to maintain, and set up a search so you see new listings the morning they appear.
The good limestone houses here do not sit. If you want a heritage property in St. Marys you need to be looking the week it lists, not the month.
Or just send me a note or call 519 949 4862.
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