The term Italianate stems from the Italian villas, particularly those of Tuscany, that inspired the style. The villas were built for the Florentine elite during the Renaissance but English architects, searching for a new look, went for it in a big way in the 1800s. The fact that Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, designed Osborne House in the Italian villa style helped popularize the look.
It's a giant leap from Renaissance villas and royal palaces to the Italianate homes of London, Ontario. The square towers didn't appear here at all. Nevertheless, an extremely scaled down version of Italianate become popular throughout the province from about 1860 to 1890 and London has numerous examples.
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On the other hand, 505 Talbot, now dwarfed by the apartment building behind it, might be described as an Italianate mansion. Still the low-hipped roof, wide eaves (in this case with a frieze), large paired brackets, and elongated windows, but on a much grander scale with a two-storey central projection and nice trim above the second-storey windows. This one was built for James Owrey, a director of Agricultural Savings and Loan Co., about 1881. The brick has been painted and dormer windows added. Houses such as this one indicate this stretch of Talbot Street must once have been a prestigious neighbourhood.
Update, September 2015: Go look at 505 Talbot while there's still time. Sadly, even though it was listed as a Priority 1 on London's heritage inventory, this is one of the buildings scheduled for demolition by Tricar to make way for a 30-storey tower.
Update, January 2021: 505 Talbot is now the site of Azure Condominium tower.