My offer for this Homestead was accepted today ( April 4'th ) and as long as all the final legal stuff works out Lucy, Laura and I will own a old farmhouse near St. Marys in a couple month's time. Occupancy on May 8'th. It was a difficult negotiation over a number of months and dozens of e-mails and phone calls but in the end it worked out. Or at least I think it did. We still only have a formal sign-back of the "offer to purchase" and given how difficult this has been I'm not counting on it until I get the final deal signed on May 8'th. If any issues arise I'm walking from the deal so it is definitely NOT a 100 percent guaranteed deal at this point.
The pictures below don't really do it justice but they do provide a flavour of the house and the estate. The house is actually three separate entities knit together over the years. All together it is just over 2,000 square feet so it is actually quite small compared to what we have been living in for some time.
The original house is the stone house on the left in the pictures. It was built in the 1840's and was actually the boy-hood home of Arthur Meighen Canada's 9'th Prime Minister ( in the 1920's ). This part of the house is actually designated as a 'heritage' property which basically means we are very restricted in what we can do to it... In addition the word "heritage" also usually means more "cost" but such is life. This part of the house has a living room, dining room. The main bath is actually behind the dining room but you get to it through the kitchen of all places which is not in the old part of the house. Weird. Upstairs is another bathroom and two bedrooms. And a dingy old basement not really useable other than for storage and laundry/furnace/electrical/water purifier/freezer etc.
One of the most likeable features of the home is the original stone house. It has two foot thick walls so very deep windows that you can sit in and read all day. I think I'm going to have cushions custom designed to fill each window well but that is far down the road at this time. They are all very tall so a lot of light comes in. The windows though are all new which is good so they are NOT breezy. There are also old pine floors, old doors and the stone work is unique and an excellent example of this type of work from 150 years ago.
There was an addition added about 100 hundred years ago although we are not sure of the timing. The addition does not carry forward the old stone work but does fit the house very well. The addition is basically the kitchen and a small breakfast area. And as mentioned you get to the main bath in the old house through the kitchen. Upstairs is the master bedroom. ( no master bedroom bath which is problematic but will be addressed ).
There is a veranda across the front of these two parts of the house that fits the place very well. The front of the house actually points north out towards the farmfields rather than the wood lot behind us.
The third part of the house was added by the current owners about 25 years's ago. They call it their library but we would likely use it as our entertainment room. Included in this part of the house is a sun room at the very end of the home. The sun room is all boarded up for the winter and is unheated but in the summer it opens up completely on all three sides, faces West and is protected outside by some trees to block excessive sun. I think it may be a bit hot in the summer but who knows. Above the sunroom is a loft accessible from the Library but the loft is near impossible for someone of my agility ( or better put ... lack of agility ) to crawl up into ( I'm over 60 you know ) but could be used in an emergency for sleep-over purposes for someone a little more nimble than myself. Basically wasted space but hey things are never perfect with an old place like this.
The property is 3.3 acres plus a long driveway into the property so just under 4 acres in total. At the end of the property is a fairly large spring fed pond. Wouldn't it be nice to actually see if we could stock the pond with some trout or other type of edible fish. On the south of the property is a wood lot with a stream running through it ... not sure of the actual size of this lot but estimate it at about 200 acres. Once we get settled and comfortable with this place I'm going to investigate buying the wood-lot. Wouldn't that be neat! On the other three sides of the estate are massive farms each about a 1,000 acres in size and usually planted with soya beans ... occasionally corn .. nothing else is visible for as far as the eye can see. You could watch your dog run away for three days.
The place is very isolated being almost a kilometre drive in off the county road ( County Road 151 between Line 10 and Line 12 on the West side, Blanshard Township ). At the same time it is only 15 minutes to St. Mary's, 28 minutes to the Festival Theatre in Stratford and 32 minutes to London Western Hospital on the University campus. I drove all three of these just to see for myself. So although completely isolated we are also very close to St. Marys, Stratford and London.
The place has a number of shortcomings that we will need to addressed over the coming years so in the interim we will just use it as our weekend/summer home. I think what we will do is use it for these purposes for a few years and get to know the place very well and then have some of these issues addressed after getting lots of opinions and putting a lot of thought into how to address them.
It is fully insulated and winterized so is usable year round. Primary heat is propane although there are two wood stoves and a propane fireplace that together would provide most of the heat when one is home. No air conditioning but we shouldn't need it. There are all new windows, roof, plumbing, electrical etc. so these pesky issues should not be a problem from that perspective.
It has a dug well for water and a septic system which is normal for this type of property.
Like I said earlier we are going to use it for a few years and seriously think through what changes we want and how to do them but hopefully it will be our retirement home. Not exactly sure when we will retire to the home but that is the intent. In the meantime I will keep our home in Richmond Hill. I only work nine months a year now and this will be my abode when I'm not working. I hope to keep working until quite late in life or at least as long was my health holds so this will be my escape destination in the interim. I will also likely travel less now that I have this place. Indeed, one of the motivations for getting this place was the fact that I was spending a small fortune on travel and it makes much more sense to invest this travel money into a property like this.
The place was bought by an english couple about 30 years ago and the wife was an avid gardener and she added in a number of old style english gardens and fruit trees etc. Hard to get a true picture of this in the winter but even seeing it through snow and ice you get a sense that the property is quite nice.
They also added a carriage house a few years ago that currently substitutes for a garage and storage area, it is unheated but is a beautiful all cedar structure built by the Mennonites. Should make a good photo studio and or workshop for me in the summer. In the interim it will be for storage.
The fellow's wife passed away about three years ago and it is a bit much for him to keep up so it needs a LOT of work and indeed the last time I visited it was a pig-sty so will take a lot of work to get it livable. It is also typical of many homes owned by older individuals ( he is 75 ) and is somewhat cluttered. He hasn't decided yet what to take or leave behind but we expect much of the furniture and stuff will remain with the house. Some of it fits very well into the decor and some of the furniture is very nice so that will be a plus as well. Although my though is to clear out ALL the old antique furniture and to bring in the most modern comtemory furniture we can find. It would be a great contrast having an 1840's house with 21'st century furniture.
I'll not go through the other shortcomings ... it is a time to be positive.
The view from the driveway ... this is the old stonehouse itself .. note the veranda in the front and the makings of some of the gardens. There is not a lot of propery in front of the house which looks out over about a 1,000 acre farm. Most of our acreage is behind the house.
The view from the front. This is the original stone house as well as the addition that was added 100 years ago.Also note the veranda across the front. There are TWO doors into the house but neither is used by the current owner who enters the house around the corner at the end of the veranda. He enters into the library room.
Our front yard. Most of the property is in the back of the house.
The Meighen Homestead sign ... shortly to be the DesRosiers Homestead although I would keep this sign and still refer to the place as the "Meighen Homestead".
The veranda which cuts across the front of the old stone house and the middle addition.
The view from the end of the yard looking back towards the driveway. The grey board and batten building on the right hand side is the addition the current owners added. The last third of this addition is currently boarded up for the winter and is where the sun room is located.
The front and side of the old stone house.
An ariel view taken many years ago. The old barn in the upper right has now been replaced with a coach house. The pond is not visible but is in the lower left hand corner. The last part of the driveway is on the right hand side in this picture. You drive in almost a kilometre and then make this little right hand turn into the property. There is nothing around us but woodlot and farmland ... absolutely nothing for as far as the eye can see. Indeed the house is barely visible from the nearest road. And as you can see there are a lot of mature trees on the property. Even more now since this picture is at least 25 years old.
The living room in the old house. Somewhat tiny but I loved the window. There is another window behind where I'm standing.
Also living room and one of the fireplaces. Notice some of the clutter.
The front of the living room ... picture was taken from the dining room. Stairs lead up to the two bedrooms. Notice the clutter.
The dining room in the old house. Also tiny. The stairs go up through the middle and lead to the upstairs bedrooms. The main bath is actually behind the dining room but you get to it off the kitchen which is through the door, around to the left and through the kitchen.
The stonework is BOTH outside AND inside the house in this part of the structure... you can see it on the right. This if the dining room, not very large but ok for six people.
Another picture of the dining room ... note the beams in the ceiling and the old pine floor with very wide planks. A devil to keep clean but very attractive and adds a lot of charm.
The stairs going up to the bedroom. This cuts the original house in half and the original front door to the house is right behind me. Living room on the left and dining room on the right.
This is a basically the old part of the house. I'm standing at the front of the house just to the left of the front door. Living room is on the left and the dining room is on the right with the stairs to the upstairs bedrooms and bath through the middle.
Breakfast area in the middle addition with one of the front entrance doors. These are not used but add a lot to the look and feel of the house.
Breakfast area in the middle addition.
Stairs up to he master bedroom in the middle addition are visible in the middle of the picture. The buffet is an old antique that is staying with the house. The stone work is visible in this area. It would have been outside in the original home.
The kitchen. Built by the mennonites. It is long and skinny and streches far to the left out of the view in this picture. Very well built but somewhat small and certainly not a place to gather and chat. As Laura told me ... "Dad, kitchens are the new family room" This is one of the things we may need to address? Difficult though but there must be a way.
The rest of the kitchen. You can see the old house as you go into the washroom at the end of the kitchen. Two big windows overlook the back yard where most of the property is located.
Mainfloor bath actually behind the dining room in the old house. We don't like the bath being off the kitchen but have no idea how to address this issue. I also prefer the beam ceiling in this part of the house versus the dining/living room ceiling.
The library. The stairs on the right lead to the bed in the loft area. They are very steep and difficult to climb so the loft is not very useful. Also not full height so basically just an area for a bed. There is a Propane stove between the windows. Two big windows in the back and two more on the front of this room and another on the side ( see next picture ) so lots of light.
Library room looking back from the sunroom.
This is the library room and the door on the right leads into the sun room. The stairs lead up to the loft.
The sun room but you can see it is all boarded up for the winter. There are five large windows across the front and three large windows on both sides. They are floor to ceiling. This will be a great room in the summer months and is quite large.
The sunroom.
The library.
Stairs up to the master bedroom located in the middle addition.Note the old stone house on the left hand side. There is also a lot of these little painted curly cues all over the place and each of the steps have them. Looks nice but would be a major issue if we ever wanted to paint the entire place.
Master bedroom. Note the old floors and the old stone house on the right hand side. But no master bedroom bath ... ouch and very difficult and expensive to address. This is the most significant shortfall of the place.
Stairs up to the two bedrooms in the old stonehouse. They go up right through the middle of the old stone house to a small landing. You can also see the beams in the ceiling of the old house. Between the beams he added wainscotting wood that is painted. I may want to change this?
Foyer at the top of the stairs .. .bathroom on the right ... in front of the bathroom is a bedroom and behind me, out of the picture, is the other bedroom. Not a lot of headroom but lovely floors.
Main bedroom upstairs in the main part of the house.
Washroom upstairs in the old stonehouse.
Second bedroom upstairs in the old stonehouse. He calls it the Pink Room ... you can see why. Even the floors are painted pink.
Example of one of the windows in the old stonehouse ... two feet deep, tall and lots of light. One of the nicest features of this place.
The old wood burning stove in the middle addition. He uses it all winter as his main source of heat. Yes a wood stove. Not sure if you can cook on it or bake bread but why NOT. I suspect my fire insurance company is NOT going to like this at all.
The view from the back of the house. Not much to look at other than you get a better feel for the stonework on the original house. The three structures which make up the house are also visible and show well. With the stone house the original structure, the pinkish middle structure the addition put on 100 years ago and the dark grey cedar board and batton library ... the addition put on 25 years ago.
This a good view of the sun room, you can see the five windows that are boarded up for the winter. When opened up they are floor to ceiling so should provide lots of light. On each side are three more identical sized windows so we will have light on all three sides of the sunroom ... I guess that's why they call it a 'sun' room.
The back of the house from the other side of the yard with a good view of the sunroom.
This is what the owner calls his carriage house ... it is actually just a garage. It was built by the Mennonites about five years ago out of cedar. It is not insulated and is about 20 ft by 40 ft ( quite large ) and is currently used as a garage and storage area. It has an interlocking brick floor which keeps it clean. Not sure what we are going to use it for other than a garage and storage for now. Eventually I'd like to put in a photography studio to accomodate my addiction to photography and a workshop to use my power tools since I haven't built any furniture for a very long time and would like to get back to this hobby as well. I also need a place for some fitness equipment and that would have to fit into this place as well. For now I'm doing nothing.
This is the front of the house from the edge of the front yard so you can see that we have a good piece of property in the front but most of the property is behind the house. You can also see a bit of the woodlot that is on the south side of the property.
My pond .. .the next picture is better ... this one is over-run with bull rushes and weeds although beyond the front foliage you can see the size of the pond. There is a flag stone walkway around the pond. I suspect I'll have some major work getting this back to normal condition.
A better picture of the pond. It is quite large and spring fed. I've already started looking into stocking it with rainbow trout. Given the size it should accomodate about 50 fish that will grow to be about 1.5 pounds each and be good for eating. ( bring your fishing rod when you visit! ). Rainbow trout are good because they do NOT breed easily so they just get bigger. If you get fish that breed they over populate and stay small. Goldfish for instance are the worse fish for a pond like this since they are actually just carp ( not good eating ) and breed like crazy so stay relatively small and crowd out fish that you could actually catch and eat. Rainbow grow and are a good eating fish. I think I'd like to put a big water fountain in the middle to airate the pond and add ornamental value.
One of the farms looking out from our property ... nothing but farmland and trees. The footsteps follow the edge of the property.
