We were lucky enough to purchase our "dream home" in September 2009. It's a good thing I had no idea what we were getting into when we bought it. The farm had been in the same family from the 1830's until 1988, and the second owner had it until we bought it. We have been lucky enough to build relationships with the the previous owner and the family that had it all the years before.
Circa 1920
This pic was taken after the silo was built in the 1940's
The lot was originally granted in 1818 and was held as part of the clergy reserve. In early Ontario 1/7th of the land in the province was held as clergy reserve. It changed hands in 1821 and then again in the late 1830's when when it was bought by the family who built the house and had it until 1988. The back was built first and the front added in 1856. The Jarvis family was fairly prominent in the early history of the township and had family political connections as well,they were able to build a fine stone home.
There are/were a number of similar homes in the area. I have been in a couple of them and the interiors of the others typically have more detail, but the trim work is much smaller. The designer of this house went for massive trim work, and 11' ceilings upstairs and down. even the basement is 7' under the joists. The baseboards are 16" high and start off 2" thick at the bottom. Sadly the owner passed away only 4 years after the house was finished at age 54 and it was left to his widow. The front parlor is a good size,(15'x32') and in the old days people came from miles away to attend dances held there.
Modern comforts took a long time to reach the rural countryside in this area. While the small farm town 5 miles to the north had electricity starting around 1905, it didn't reach the area farms until starting in 1931 and was installed here in 1935. Indoor plumbing had to wait until 1954
Around 1960 the two brothers (4th generation)that had purchased the farm from their father sold 196 of the 200 acre farm to speculators, keeping the house and retired from farming. The brothers were lifelong bachelors and while they didn't neglect the house, upgrades and upkeep were not quite top of the list. Pretty typical for these older farmhouses.
In 1988 the neighbor down the road convinced the brothers to sell and they moved away. The new owner put a ton of work and money into the well worn home. New electrical service, new plumbing, repaired all the walls in the front part of the house, new heating system, new cistern, new septic system, re-pointed the front half of the house, new roof, parged the foundation, and added a new closed in porch that will withstand an atomic bomb. This is the only thing that I would have done differently. I mean, it's well built, but doesn't fit with the rest of the house style-wise, down the road I may stucco or stone veneer the porch, we will have to wait until the budget is capable of supporting the idea.
In 2008 a friend of the owner wanted desperately to buy the house so a deal was reached, only to fall through on the closing date. Problem was the owner had already bought a new house and moved into it, mostly. The owner was a "collector" and had a lot of his collection still here. The house was empty, but outside and in the barns held many treasures. Eventually I would buy a few of these treasures, and he gave me many more.
So November 1st 2008 our house sat empty and unwanted. By December the for sale sign was up. I drove by the place a few times a week and noticed it quickly. It was April by the time we went to look at it.
The listing agent suggested we tear the old place down and build a nice new home, or several.
Next time, "moving in"
