Ever get the impression that this blog is my way of living vicariously through others? That I write stories about people who do things I wish I could do — or used to be able to do?
If so, you’d be partly right.
But what John Garside is doing – almost entirely by himself – blows my mind. And now, as he nears his self-imposed deadline for moving Ann and himself into their house in Prince Edward County, I find myself holding my breath every time a new email comes from John.
Will this be the email where John finally confesses that he needs a break from all this work, and that – promise or no promise – the idea of moving in this spring is ridiculously un-do-able?
But it never is. Not when he has to repair major cracks in the coach house foundation (below). Not when he undertakes the delicate restoration of original ceiling medallions. Not even when he is clearing out the basement.
A lot of the work has been onerous. As for the basement, John says it “was very crowded — 100 years of clutter — and cut up with old wooden partitions etc. This was totally removed by me. 6,300 lbs. of stuff!!”
Right now, John’s working on finishing up the library.
The more John restores the house, the closer he feels to it, and the more he learns about its past. He’s made a few intriguing discoveries. Like the original signatures of the first owner and his young son, written in concrete.
“William W. Bedell,” explains John, “was the father. Willet V. Bedell was his only son. The boy would have been only 7 or 8 years old when he did it.”
Sadly, Willet died as a young man. It was during the First World War, “on a Troop Ship in 1917 en route to France”.
The second family to own the house were the Wards, though John doesn’t yet know who exactly “Envers” was. There’s still a lot to learn about the home’s history.
John’s original move-in date was April 30. But life follows its own course.
Just a few weeks ago, John’s mother’s health declined suddenly. She died within days.
This spring is a time of change for John, Ann, and family.
It’s also a time of renewal.
After a rough winter, a flock of tiny blue scilla flowers is blooming in the garden. It’s one of the first flowers of spring.
And inside the house, John keeps repairing and restoring.
Another room done, one left to go. Then, after all the cleaning up, comes the big move.
Author MT McGuire is one of my favorite bloggers. That’s partly because I never know what MT will write about next. Or how.
Like the time she went metal detecting and found “a strange um…. thing.” Well, with an opening like that, don’t we just need to press on, to figure out what the um… thing is?
The Thing
One day she’s unearthing an 800 year old object and the next she’s breaking your heart with her worry about her parents’ health.
“My Mum was 80 a few months ago.She told me, gently, that her father didn’t survive to see 81 and I had a horrible feeling that she was telling me she thinks she mightn’t be around for long. And I think this is the root of it all. That my parents are knocking on, and soon they won’t be here. And I want their last years to be happy, and for life to be kind to them, and while I think they are happy, I know they are struggling.
So I suppose I’m just scared.”
That ability to confront both the weird and the deeply moving may help explain the appeal of MT’s K’Barthan Trilogy.
She describes the young adult fantasy series as: “Above all else, a romp. If it makes people laugh, then — to be honest — anything else is gravy. There are bad jokes, silly names, an unspeakable baddie, flying cars, flying car chases, exciting fights and a smattering of romance. But I’m hoping there might be the odd universal truth buried in there somewhere, even if it’s only by mistake.”
MT McGuire’s self-description? “A 45 year old who still checks inside unfamiliar wardrobes for a gateway to Narnia.”
Any luck with that? “None yet.”
One day, I checked MT’s blog and discovered a wonderful old building where she and her family lived while her father was housemaster of Gibbs House, at Lancing College in Sussex, England.
Gibbs House, Lancing College
Here’s how she describes it:
“Miles and miles of corridor and a couple of enormous rooms (you know, bed in one post code, wardrobe in another) and a couple of tiny ones just big enough to fit a chest of drawers and a bed, on each floor. You have the spare room; the dormer up top (horrible room, we thought it was haunted – so we kindly put our guests there – phnark).”
Lancing was definitely not a “normal” environment for a young girl, since it was mostly a boys’ school.
“If your life is not like other people’s you end up with an alternative perception of what normal is.”
You also learn to see things that others may miss.
“There were always the lads who were having a hard time at home. They were the ones my parents were extra kind to and for whom they went the extra mile. I never knew what was going on in these boys’ lives but there was something unmistakable in all of them. So, I guess I developed an eye for people who were hauling baggage which has helped a lot with the characterisation in my books – not to mention day to day life.”
Lancing College Chapel
So – back to the pictures of Lancing College. They reminded me of another fantasy series — the Harry Potter books. And sure enough, Lancing was the producers’ first location choice.
“The school was offered a lot of money to be the ‘film-Hogwarts’ but declined. The headmaster at the time said that it was a place of education and not for Hollywood. He is a charming and mild mannered man. I wonder what on earth they must have said to him to get such an uncharacteristically pompous rebuttal.”
Today, MT, her husband (“McOther”) and young son (“McMini”) live in another old building (above, built in 1800).
She loves it, despite the fact that the plumbing and heating systems and the plastering need repairs. MT says it’s like owning a 1960’s Rolls Royce.
“Sure it needs a bit of care and tinkering but it’s like living in history and it’s so beautifully made. The banister rail is beautiful and the doors and the floors are lovely. The look and feel goes with our furniture, which is mostly family stuff, generations of hand-me-down antiques and some nice modern things McOther and I have bought.”
Comfort matters. “I like a well cared house, but not too neat. It has to look lived in or it makes the guests nervous and then they are far more likely to spill stuff and break things. Well, OK — I am, if I’m your guest. It may be different for normal people.”
For MT, home is a place, but, above all, it’s the people who love and understand you.
“Someone as well as somewhere to come home to. When I was a kid it was my parents and brother. Now, it’s McOther and McMini. Unless they are in it with me it’s not a proper home. I guess they are my home in many ways.”
“I walked through the front door”, owner Beth says, “and, without seeing the rest of the house or knowing anything about it, I burst into tears and said ‘We’ll take it’. The realtors replied: ‘But you haven’t seen the rest of the house’. I didn’t need to.”
Beth was immediately drawn to the “magnificent staircase”, the sight lines from the front door, and the kitchen’s stained glass window.
Seton 5+ acres, this large brick house north of Cobourg, Ontario, has been beautifully renovated and lovingly cared. Beth and her partner Gerry were enthralled with the original features throughout the house: the woodwork, the 18- inch baseboards, the stained glass windows in 4 of the main rooms, and the back staircase that leads up to the bedroom once used by the household staff.
The house goes back to 1892, one of several built by the Atkinson family on “crown land” (deeded to them by the government). Descendants of the Atkinson family still live and farm nearby today.
But in the 1970’s, the house was in such sad shape that it was slated for demolition. Then a family bought it and lovingly restored it over 20 years. Next, the house was sold to professional renovators. By the time Beth and Gerry came along, it was already in great shape.
Beth has a passion for Victorian homes, and while some of the woodwork is painted, most of it has been kept original. “I have a mission to preserve old houses from being ‘painted’ – as so many of the décor magazines seem to advise right now, e.g. ‘Paint that staircase white’. Or, ‘get rid of that ugly wood trim’.”
It’s been a good home for Beth and Gerry.
With 5 bedrooms and spacious common areas, the house accommodates their large family gatherings and also provides separate office spaces for this couple.
They love the views. The sunsets from their west-facing living room. The trees. The fields. And the “free horses” – two Belgians belonging to their neighbours – that come to live in the field from May to October.
Photos by Steve Leach – Realty Services
A favorite space is the screened- in porch/sunroom.
“It’s heaven. Listening to the sounds of nature. Enjoying the fresh breezes. From the first minute the temperature rises to +5 in the spring, we are sitting out there for three seasons. In the mornings with our coffee, at lunch taking a break from work, and after work with a glass of wine.”
But the time has come for Beth and Gerry to downsize. Their lovely house is for sale. And though there’s the inevitable sadness when leaving a cherished home, they know that others will enjoy it for years to come.
One of my favorite TV shows was a series called “Build a New Life in the Country”.
Every episode focused on a couple who decided to leave the big city and move to the country, where property was much cheaper, especially if the place needed work.
Channel 5 UK
And they all did. Some were derelict houses, even abandoned barns.
Stone walls falling down? Check. Money running out halfway through the job? Check. Crumbling roof, ceiling and floors? Check, check, check. But these brave souls were determined.
What made each story gripping was the risk of failure. Some of these homeowners couldn’t build their way out of a paper bag. Yet, they’d taken on the challenge, dreaming of that better life in the country. Some hired skilled workers, but other couples tried to do the work themselves.
At a critical point in the project, the host, architect George, would appear on site and utter a dire prediction: “It will take a miracle for this work to be completed….”
Channel 5, UK
And there I’d be in my living room, cheering on these intrepid builders, hoping they’d get their miracle (they usually did). But at the end of each episode, I’d wonder: What makes a sane person look at an old house and say “I think I’ll just buy this pile of bricks and bring it back to life”?
These questions came to mind recently when I came across a photo of a quaint old house near to both charming Roseneath and artsy Warkworth, two villages in the rolling hills of Northumberland, about ninety minutes’ drive from Toronto. It was listed at a mind-bogglingly low price compared to houses in the Greater Toronto Area: just $259,000.
Realtor.ca
The house sits on nearly 4 acres of land, and has, the listing says, “fantastic views”. It has some nice original features: 2 staircases from the main level to upstairs (a great feature found in some old houses), wide-plank floors, a beautiful front verandah and a circular driveway. It also has some recent improvements, such as updated furnace, some new wiring and a drilled well.
But the interior photos tell a sobering story: this house needs significant updating. New plastering, some new windows, maybe a new roof, new kitchen, etc., etc, etc. In other words, money and work. So who’d buy it?
“Well”, says my husband, peering over my shoulder at the computer screen, “$259,000 is a low starting point; could be great if someone had the money to update it.”
Realtor.ca
“Sure”, I think, daydreaming of buying that house and installing my dream kitchen.
“Dream kitchen” via myhomeideas.com
Then the thought of all that work, all that money — and all that renovation dust in my nose, eyes and mouth – wakes me up immediately.
But my friend John, who bought a century-old house east of Toronto and is lovingly restoring and updating it, thinks the Northumberland house has potential. It could be a wonderful project for the right buyer.
“Some things obviously have been done but definitely not all and that is really the key. I would purchase this house over one that’s completely updated, as by doing the work and exploring the house you really get to know it and make it what you want and then it is your home!
“And if you do most of the work yourself and only contract out the (really skilled stuff like) electrical and roofing and not get too carried away with your renovations, $150,000 should cover everything!”
So here’s my pie-in-the-sky question: if you had a choice, would you buy a nicely renovated house that’s move-in ready? Or would you buy the house that needs a lot of work but could yield a significant financial return?
