Downes but not Out

When I last posted about "Grove Place", Picton's wonderfully exotic Gothic Revival style Downes/Allison/Falconer place (c.1858), I was feeling a bit glum about its chances of survival. I took its photo last February, shivering in an unkind wind under a foreboding winter sky, standing in snow deeper than my boots. Later I posted "Gothic Survival," feeling as if I were practising for the cottage's epitaph.

I took this photo from the corner of the supermarket parking lot last month. Now granted, we all look a bit peaked in February. The glow of a late afternoon October sun does wonders for an old girl's complexion (trust me, I know). But there's something going on here that gives me hope. The realtor's sign is gone. The building is still standing. That fact alone speeds the heart-rate of old house folks.

There are loads of people in town who value the artistic and historic. There are some deep pockets.They've been burned once by wrong-headed heritage demolition.

We're keeping an eye on this one.