Adoption is not for everybody...

Adopt a highway, adopt a manatee, adopt a soldier, adopt a pet, adopt a....bit of neglected c.1819 frame house, Bath's most significant building?
Nah, wouldn't be practical.
Too much work.

That's why I've had this house on my worry list whenever I've passed through Bath these last 15 years.
I blogged about the house back in November 2010.
To quote our old dad, at the time "I wouldn't have given much for its chances".
Looked like a classic case of benign neglect.
And we all know how that ends.

Last Friday as I bopped down Church Street from Bath Academy, head full of anticipation for the War of 1812 events ahead, eyes on the reenactors' encampment on the Fairfield-Gutzeit lawn, I was overjoyed to see signs of life at the corner.

Had a peek inside - and a tour the following day.
This is one lucky house...adopted by a smart, energetic, skilled, ambitious, informed, visionary man who is bringing it back from the brink.
His name is Ron Tasker, he's an engineer, he knows what he is doing and he had been searching throughout the area for a house like this.

He has sat down at the knee of this old soldier, and heard all the tales.
He is sharing the stories, and writing a few of his own along the way.

I am almost speechless with relief...with recognition of a kindred spirit.

Someone whose conversation is peppered with words like hand-made lathe, guttae, Rempel, rose headed nails, pilasters, the Kingston Gazette, Georgian mantels with subtle neo-classical touches, early wallpaper. Who knows his way around the early history of this building, its business, its owner, and this town, and is graciously sharing what he is learning and doing (like removing 30 or more tons of rubbish from the building) to effect this house rescue. He was looking for a place like this house. Lucky house.

Ron Tasker telling the Peter Ham store story

a touch of neo-classical under the mantel shelf

This was the original 'front' facing the street up from the harbour

hand-split lathe - to enjoy fully read John Rempel

Watch this space.

The news from Ham House is getting better every day.

Hello Old Man...

...tell me your story.
I've come upon you, travelling an unmarked road over shallow limestone and hot dry weeds.
I've found you in this place.
Nothing but silence here, nothing but the whisper of the wind in the long grass, the spice of the red cedars under the hot sun. An unfamiliar bird voice calls...a bird who does not know backyard feeders, one who feels only the rhythms of this bit of the county, forgotten now.

You did not prosper here.
You built this house when many lived in fine brick and stone, their cattle fat and their fences strong.

Moses Hudgin log house 1860, PEC

Yet it was a good enough house; strong enough to last 150 years.
You farmed a bit on this begrudging land.
You fished in the unforgiving lake.
You sailed sometimes for a bit of pay.

You'd laugh to hear we've saved your log house.
But they did.
Because sometimes we still need silence, and the stories that a hard man on a hard farm can tell.

Goodbye Old Friend

I have had little time to write lately; too busy writing. A promised chapter about architecture for a book on Prince Edward County has forced me into an uncharacteristically disciplined month. Now the fact that this discipline has demanded reading and research and numerous road trips to take photos would suggest that I cannot call in too much sympathy. Granted.



But the voyage has not been without its tragic losses.

Today I feel I need to be among friends who understand.

This little house, the Mouck House of South Marysburgh, was built around 1836.
PJ Stokes figured it was the oldest house in the township.
The fact that it was brick, at a time when brick was used mostly in big houses of well-off folks, tells you just how proud the folks were of their little house.

But what I loved about the little house was that it showed me its brick heart...well, it showed anyone who cared to look, its brick heart. The side wall shows the way early builders used reject bricks (remember they were fired in pits nearby, short on quality control) for an inner layer of brick "nogging," good for insulation. You can see the outer bricks holding on at the corner. You can see the nogging between the frame members, the interior plank walls. You can see her little warm soft handmade brick heart.

But like making friends with a very old person, and beginning to learn so much from them, the relationship ended too quickly. Last week I made a return trip to the area, on a quest for a log house I'd read about. I carefully passed a large flatbed truck parked at the roadside. Men were loading a large yellow machine. I'd travelled a bit farther before I realized that I must have passed the old house, so did a U-turn and came back. I found, not my little old friend under the big trees, but a smooth flat area of new soil where hours before, the little Mouck house had stood.

I asked some walkers, so deep was my feeling of denial at the death. "Yup, it was time that happened, it was falling down". Great. A spot for another vinyl sided, many-gabled fake craftsman style house. History here? Nope.

Welcome back m'lady

Glanmore, 257 Bridge Street East, Belleville

Exterior painting only a teeny hint of
what you will experience inside

A graceful tip of the flower-bedecked hat to the outstanding staff at Glanmore National Historic Site, for the vision, the expertise, the sheer heart-breaking work they have devoted to the recent plaster ceiling consolidation and paint restoration at Belleville's exquisite Glanmore. 


This Second Empire treasure re-opened Friday May 18 to great accolades - and rightly so.


If you have never been, you have missed a great deal. If you go now, for the first time, you will be absolutely (to quote my father-in-law) gob-smacked.

What Hanley Hath Wrought!

Mansard Roof system, NHS material

WELCOME!
Summer Hours: June-August, Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 to 4:30

making a graceful exit

pilasters with gentle curve or 'entasis'

 It's been years since I've been in Northport...years since I looked at buildings that have always caused a skip in the heartbeat, through the slightly wiser eyes of a history of architecture student. I have tended to overlook buildings with obvious add-on dormers, because they are just so...unlovely.

But on Monday morning I made the acquaintance of two folks I knew I would enjoy and learn much from. And these folks, who live in the area, and know their way around PEC's early buildings, told me to be sure to have a look for this decaying house in Northport village.

I remember Northport from my early days, travelling with dad to deliver a load of tomatoes  to the cannery there - I think I found the building, restored with some folk-art figures smiling from the windows. Curious.

brick nogging or infill between hand-hewn structural members

On my return home, I had a look at SD for details about this lovely old place, which clearly needs a rescue very soon. Vindicated for my modern dormer snobbery by Stokes' comment about "awkward dormers", I got past the modern chimney and windows, the out-of-period porches, the peeling paint, and the rather intimidating giant wasp nest near the amazing front door, to appreciate the Greek Revival features of this "stylish" Demille house, dating from the mid-1830's.

doorcase elements

This house is outstanding for its many features in the 'new' Greek Revival style, created in what is likely the native white pine.  Substantial eaves returns and front door panels betray the influences, as do the pilasters bordering the door and the sidelights adjacent, the delicate cornices of the windows, and the fluted cornerboards.

There are a number of houses in this village which have the same roots - American-flavoured Loyalist homes, demonstrating that new republic's love affair with Greek history, political beliefs and architectural elements, all transported to a tiny Upper Canada community (which, I'm told was once a happening town) along the Bay of Quinte.

Shopping District - Castleton

pilasters, eaves returns, classical symmetry in frame

My mother raised me right. To her, it was just polite to send thank you notes directly after the event which had brought joy. I have been remiss.

I owe my thanks to the Northumberland branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, and to Nanci Anderson in particular, who remembered to invite the members of Heritage Belleville to a celebration of the wit and wisdom of the incomparable Peter John Stokes, pioneer in the field of heritage architecture in Canada. And to the lovely folks of this organization, who worked hard to organize the day, yet remembered to save a bit of energy to make an out-of-towner welcome.

an incongruous but sweet Italianate porch

rare original 12 x 12 sash

The presentation took place in the unique and lovely Castleton town hall, which displays some inspired brick-work. But the building that caught my eye, and kept me trotting back and forth across the intersection in the sun and wind for yet another look, was this amazing Castleton General Store.

Post Office, LCBO, general merchandise - what more could a village want? Judging by the traffic in and out, folks are pretty satisfied with the services offered. Built in 1870, and featuring some of the original counters and display cases, the building has Greek Revival grandeur - reminds me of the old store in Queensborough, though the years have been kinder to this structure.

great doors - asymmetrical lights

lovely Victorian store window

view from old Percy Road

The Castleton General Store glowed serenely in the spring sunshine, satisfied with her years of service to the little community, confident that she is still making a contribution, and secure in the knowledge that someone is still taking good care of her. She is a treasure...be proud of her, Castleton.

Getting stoned with St. Stephen

Not long ago I wrote about an English-village church I'd "discovered" on the grotty corner of Bathurst and College at the edge of Kensington Market. Today I found this link in an award-winning online architectural conservation e-bulletin I subscribe to: http://www.builtheritagenews.ca/index.cfm . Editor Catherine Nasmith is an architect and former president of ACO Ontario, knows a thing or two about heritage research and restoration, and does not suffer fools gladly.

An item in the newsletter caught my eye, a link to a Globe and Mail article about that wonderful old St.Stephen in-the-Fields (1858), a source for good in its diverse community.

This new (courageous, innovative, smacking of desperation) use for a facility dedicated to St. Stephen and his unfortunate end, gives new meaning to the term getting stoned. Sorry.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/globe-to/booze-meets-pews-in-the-quest-for-local-nightlife-venues/article2409554/