down on the farm...

I love farms in towns...farms that have stood far longer than the towns or villages which now surround them. They are islands in time, gently revealing stories of our rural past as modern-day commerce swirls around them...a reminder that this land was once deep forest cleared at great effort to establish a homestead, and a living for a family. Gerry Boyce's book Hutton of Hastings chronicles that transition from bush to settlement so well - and the hopes and heartbreaks associated. These days, in many communities, early farms are being eclipsed by the growth of our urban way of life.

Until recently, Napanee has had a working farm with a proud red barn and black and white cows standing stalwart near Canadian Tire and Tim Hortons. I always wondered how long THAT would be allowed to continue. My neighbour recently showed me the shiny new barn that has been built in the countryside nearby to entice the cattle (and their people) to leave their traditional territory in town, no doubt to free up the property for a big box store. Bloomfield village in PEC also has a working farm just west of the posh boutique downtown, which occasionally perfumes the air with something not quite potpourri.

I have loved the homestead in this photo for ages, catching glimpses of the front of the house, its unpretentious low limestone profile and its inviting verandah, set on a hill above the main road in Cannifton village. Just recently, I headed up a small side-street at the south of the property to effect a u-turn, and came upon this wonderful view - a page wire fence woven with grape vines, a lush and lovely, but empty pasture, a grouping of barns, a limestone building at the back of the house and the charming brick addition on the south side.

The discovery made me think of my grandmother's stone house on Royal Street, and took me back to magic sunshiny days of exploring - the cathedral-like stone wood-house, the deep window seats, the early 'transparent' apple tree inviting hungry kids up into its comfy branches, the shadowy woods where we found the cows in the hot late afternoons, the creaky mysterious windmill - all features of that farm which we didn't have at home.

Mary Plumpton, in her lovely book The Rambling River (1967) tells the story of the Canniffton farm. It is associated - as are many of the buildings in this lovely stone village - with the founders, the Canniff family. Interesting, Ms. Plumpton records that in 1860, there were said to be 90 people by the name of Canniff in this important community! The lovely farmhouse in the photo was built by Joseph Canniff (b.1798), son of the first Canniff in the area. There is another fine stone house and store adjacent to the farm property,which I must get back to, also associated with that family.

In fact, one day soon, I hope to capture all of the wonderful stone buildings in Cannifton - have to wait for the right light to warm their beautiful river-stone faces.

Nobody Waved Goodbye

My most literate friend Brenda and I spent a golden October day along the Bay of Quinte shores. During our walk - and over the welcome tea and treats - she reminded me of Ben Wicks' book about the story of London's evacuated children during WWII. The title is Nobody Waved Goodbye. Despite the compelling stories of children in a war-time we poorly remember and scarcely understand, the title itself drew me to a very different tale.

This story is the long life and inevitable disappearance of a part of Belleville's history, the historic Hutton-Ponton house.As we walked through the noisy construction on Dundas Street (a detour in the lovely waterfront walk due to some suspected short-sightedness on the part of city government?) we encountered this monument standing in an empty grassy lot - Ponton Park as it turns out. The text on the stone tells a story many may have forgotten, others may never know.

The inscription reads: "Ponton Park was bequeathed to the city of Belleville by Enid Ponton Zimmele in 1964 through a land transfer as part of the sale of the Ponton lands for development. The land and premises were 'to be used as parklands and no buildings whatsoever are to be erected thereon'. Enid received this land, including the English Regency cottage style house from her husband, Col. William Nisbet Ponton, a lawyer and militia officer....Colonel Ponton was the last descendent of William Hutton who purchased these lands in 1834 and improved an original frame house built in the early 1800's by Dr. Seth Meacham'. A view of the lovely little home is etched on the stone.

I've just finished reading Gerry Boyce's masterful 1972 book Hutton of Hastings. Mr. Boyce weaves the story of Irish pioneer William Hutton and his struggles to establish his home, Sidney Cottage, and a profitable farm on this very spot, from his arrival in 1834 to his death in 1861, from letters written over that period by Hutton to his cherished mother back in Ireland. Sidney Cottage and its inhabitants are woven into the fabric of Belleville and Hastings County. William Hutton went on to a career in public service - as first county warden, first county school superintendent, and a founder of the Canadian Bureau of Agriculture. He was associated with notable figures in local and provincial history - Francis Hincks, Robert Baldwin, Egerton Ryerson and George Benjamin.

The book brings to life the daily details of homesteading, raising children to become successful citizens, and the constant struggle with finances, weather and pests that still bedevil farmers. William Hutton and his indomitable wife Fanny farmed the land on which housing, schools, and industry exist today, leaving not a trace. But because of this incredible book I feel the spirit of this home and this family to this day, on this location. Thank goodness somebody thought to place a monument at least. How wonderful it would be if that little limestone Regency cottage still stood where it was until its demolition in 1981.

Sincere thanks to Gerry Boyce for his permission to use the black and white photos from his book Hutton of Hastings.

Classic Rock

Great title....great publication. Thanks to co-publishers Nancy and John Hopkins. Country Roads magazine, featuring articles about our adopted county of Hastings, has just printed my article on cobblestone houses in this area, in their winter edition. The magazine is distributed free in selected locations in the county, including Belleville, Bancroft, Madoc, Marmora, Stirling and Tweed. Super magazine, published four times per year. Celebrate Hasting's amazing cobblestone legacy with us!

on my way to town...

I've been enjoying a browse through Ameliasburgh township in The Settler's Dream. I came upon the description of this unusual house, one of the triumvirate of PEC homes featuring "novel architectural forms" - the others being the octagonal houses associated with Owen Roblin, and the J.P. Downes house which I am keeping an eye on. Interesting that all three are favourites of mine....guess I would have created a unique house in the day (or attempted to influence my lord and master to do so).

I may have talked about this before - when I was growing up in North Marysburgh PEC, the trip to Belleville was a long and infrequent one. Our dad was a great 'buy local' kind of guy. Who bought? We grew it. Indeed, the daunting prospect of being caught in the lineup for the swing-bridge, or the possibility of a flat tire delaying the arrival home for milking made the whole trip somewhat fraught.

In those magical days, the road to Belleville travelled the old highway 14, a treed and twisty route around the impassable expanse of the Massassauga marsh (how would they build a road over a marsh, we thought), past the road to Massassauga Point, and through Rossmore village to the south end of the causeway to the old swing bridge. Even today, there are tantalizing echoes of the old route in Rossmore and along Highland Avenue in Belleville (where we were delighted finally by the Riverboat House on our way downtown).

My mother, perhaps to lessen the tension, or to amuse the "are we there yet" contingent would draw our attention to unusual sites along the way. This house always drew comment. Like the Downes house in Picton, it had a castle whimsy that appealed to me. The tiny windows in the second half-story were especially appealing, suggesting a short second floor that only the small people could inhabit. Cruikshank's term for them, "stomachers", though doubtless correct, doesn't convey the Rapunzel romance of those whimsical windows.

The monitor with its spiky finial, the four gables with yummy gingerbread above pointy gothic windows, the sharp finials on gable peaks, and the askew chimneys all created a lively and appealing storybook house we looked forward to visiting around the tree-lined turn near the tiny bridge over the creek on this narrow road - now passed by daily by speeding commuters.

Nice that the old Zufelt/Weatherhead house, c. 1852, is looking pretty good for her age. She was already 100 when I loved her as a child.

The shape you're in*

This project started out with a search for octagonal houses, after a walk around Picton and rediscovery of the brick house at left.. Thought it would be fun to learn a bit more about that Fowler chap, and his theories about building. Already knew of two octagons in Picton. Had a distant memory of another one - or two?- in Ameliasburgh. The Settler's Dream gave me all I needed to know about that foursome. A visit to Krista and Kelly at the PEC Archives in Wellington provided me with photos of the two now lost to us. John Rempel published a most comprehensive and erudite account of octagons/round buildings (including dead houses and outdoor privies) in Building with Wood (1967).

However....the story I'm working on is for the Hastings County Historical Society. I need Hastings County octagons! So I've spent a day at the Hastings County Historical Society/Community Archives in Cannifton, with my building researcher/friend Lois...and what we discovered will be available for your enjoyment and edification in the January issue of Outlook.

left: King Street, Picton.

right: Main Street West, Picton

title: *apologies to Eric Clapton.

Pen pals

Remember pen pals? When I was a kid, children's magazines like Chickadee sometimes featured a column with names and addresses of youth around the world. Readers could send off a letter and begin a lifetime relationship with another kid in a faraway country...hands across the water stuff. At least that was the theory. Don't think I ever got a single reply.

Enter email, and blogging and facebook and we are just connecting at an alarming rate...

I have been delighted at the responses I've received at my blog gmail, and am enjoying a correspondence with a number of folks - from California, the prairies, the Maritimes, and spots in Ontario, on topics as wide-ranging as dry-stone walls, other writers' architectural projects, Methodist churches and quests for local building and family history.

Just recently a fellow contacted me to correct hazy info I had gleaned from a local history book about the above house, appropriately obfuscated by the hedge beside the property. The detail he provided leaves me in awe of the detective instinct alive in researchers and genealogists.

stony ground

A small biblical allusion for a Sunday morning. I am recalling the tranquility of this bench warming itself against the stone wall of a cobblestone church near here. The owners have converted the sanctuary into an amazing gallery and yoga retreat. I'd suggest a visit to their website stonechurchmuseum.com and a visit (by appointment) to their wonderful space. Brigitte and Dennis are wonderful folks.

I met the couple while interviewing owners of some of Hastings County's cobblestone buildings. Nancy and John Hopkins, the fine folks at Country Roads magazine discovered my interest in cobblestones and asked me to do an article. I'm pleased to say I picked up 100 copies yesterday - and it looks wonderful!