Farley Mowat, writer and environmentalist, was a long-time resident of Port Hope until he died in 2014. A monument to the author named “Boat Roofed House” or ‘Viking House” is located on the east side of the Ganaraska River, near Walk Bridge over the river. It is a reproduction of a boat-roofed house mentioned in his book ‘ The Farfarers’ (1998).
Using 30 tones of quarried limestone from the Madoc area, a local dry-stone waller built this 25-by-8-foot house with a double-ender boat doubling as a roof.
The literary giant, known for his vivid stories set against a backdrop of the Canadian wilderness, had a monument erected in 2006 on a piece of private property (20 Catherine St.). It was moved to a new place in downtown in 2016.