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Looking for a New/Old Place
Heidi and Dave and their son Joshua were living in Scugog Point, a small community on the North East shores of Lake Scugog near Port Perry, Ontario and had decided to make the move to a country home with a little more land and more breathing space. They really wanted an older style farm house but the cost of real estate of that type in the area where they lived was prohibitive. Heidi’s mother, Margaret Maloney, was living in the Beachburg area so Heidi and Dave began looking at homes in the area for a period of about 18 months.
During that time they found many older farm houses in the area but nothing that were quite what they were looking for. Many of the homes were in rough shape structurally, while others had been renovated, but in the renovations over the years much of the original charm had been lost.
Found It!
During a visit to Heidi’s mom’s for Christmas dinner in 2000 as they drove through Foresters Falls, Heidi and Dave both looked at this abandoned house which they had driven by many times before and both asked “I wonder what’s up with that house?” at the same time.
Stopping in the driveway and carefully walking on the decrepit front porch, they peered in the windows and were amazed at how the house looked on the inside. Although the paint was faded and cracked and wallpaper was coming off of the walls, the house had all the original trim, doors and even pressed tin ceilings.
At Christmas dinner that night they were telling the family about this wonderful house they had seen. Heidi and Dave’s brother-in-law and sister, Jason and Amber Finan, said that they knew a local farmer who had been trying to purchase the farm from a family in Germany for several years and he was just abut to close the deal.
They contacted Dale and Sue Bennett and arranged for Heidi and Dave to see the house. It was much better and much worse then they had expected. Aside from the front porch which was literally falling off of the house and some damaged brick due to the rotted eaves troughs, the house was structurally very sound. The walls and floors were very straight, all of the floors in the house had the original wood (although some were under multiple layers of carpet or linoleum and plywood) and not one of the original windows in the house was even broken after being empty for almost 12 years!
Heidi and Dave reached an agreement with Dale and Sue to purchase the house and took ownership in May 2001.
Almost Lost It
A couple of days before they were to take possession of the house Dave had made arrangements to go into the house to meet with the local plumber, the late Brian Kuzela to get an estimate on replacing all of the plumbing. Brian could not make it that day and called to make an appointment for the next morning. Upon arriving at the house the next morning, Dave was met by Brian who had arrived a few minutes earlier.
Brian asked Dave if he had been burning anything there the day before. As he hadn’t he and Brian started to look around and upon entering the drive shed (now the garage) found that the back-kitchen door was on fire. Putting the flames out with some water that he had brought for the dog, Dave decided that they didn’t need the fire department. When he went to unlock the door however, he burnt his hand on the handle. After opening the door using a rag to hold it, he found that the floor in the back-kitchen was on fire.
Running across the road to wake neighbour Wayne Scobie and call the fire department, Brian and Dave proceeded to run back and forth across the road carrying pails of water for several hundred meters each way until the fire department arrived moments later. They were impressed with the speed of response from the local fire department.
Dave was a little upset at having the floor, door and part of a wall cut out with a chainsaw but it was the only way to ensure that the smoldering ambers in the walls and floor would not burn down the rest of the house.
The cause of the fire was never determined but it was suspicious since the house had been empty for so long and did even have any hydro connected to it.
Thanks to Brian for being there at the right time!
The Restoration
Heidi and Dave began work on the house in June 2001 with Dave spending his weekends and vacations fixing up the house. This included major work of all new plumbing, all new wiring, ripping up old flooring, refinishing floors, scraping paint, repairing cracked walls, etc. etc.
They had planned on a good, hard solid year of work to bring the house back to it’s former glory.
A year of hard work later they were still living in 1 room of the house and working on the rest. They still had no kitchen - just an old stove in the back-kitchen that they would have to clear the snow off of after a snowfall before using it. For a few months the only running water was a laundry tub in the kitchen which served as a kitchen sink, laundry and sometimes even a bath-tub.
Four and half years into the one year project, the bulk of the restoration of the inside of the house was complete. It turned out to be a much bigger job than was ever anticipated but it was well worth it. Photo albums covering the evolution of the restoration project are available for viewing at Alexander House.
As with any old house, the work will never end but we are happy with our home and glad to share it and it’s history with our guests.
Many thanks to our family, friends and neighbours who helped along the way.
Alexander House Bed & Breakfast
In June of 2004 Heidi and Dave opened their home as a Bed and Breakfast to travelers to the area. Their primary business comes from those seeking adventure on the Ottawa River through Whitewater Rafting or Kayaking but we also receive other guests who are visiting the area for weddings and family reunions etc.
Recognition
During the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Whitewater Historical Society a special award of recognition was presented to Heidi and Dave by the president of the society, Lawrie Barton, for their work in the restoration of their century home.
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