Condition and History of the Stone House

Steve had made dramatic progress clearing out the possessions abandoned with the stone house. With the contents gone, he was able to have a better view of the interior.

The 1840s portion of the house had undergone several changes over the years. About half the original woodwork had been removed, and what was left had been ruined by weather and animals.

Tour of the stone house main floor

The addition

Upstairs

Inspection time

Steve had shored up the sagging main floor and was ready for a professional visual inspection of the building. This was our moment of truth when we would find out if the house we bought was salvageable.

We enlisted the services of Will Terron, a specialist in heritage buildings at Tacoma Engineers. He and Steve were discussing the front room and the dubious capacity of the floor to support the two heavy organs when Steve's foot plunged right through.

At some point, the floorboards on the main floor were removed. They had been replaced with plywood and linoleum, and the plywood gave way under Steve's weight.

Nevertheless, it was a good day. Will determined that the exterior wall we were concerned about had settled quite some time ago. The benching in the basement had worked to stabilize it, and the wall had stayed put since. He also confirmed that the plumb walls and straight roofline indicated stability in the rest of the structure. He identified a section of stone wall in the basement that needed repointing, but other than that, we were good to go.

Steve patched the rotten floor with new plywood

With the house cleared out, and the green light from the engineer, we began to envision breathing new life into the place. 

Excited about our project, friends got me hooked on YouTube restoration shows. Series like Restoration Home, What Have We Dunoon and Restoration Man follow the progress of homeowners trying to save derelict buildings in the UK. The Restoration Home team includes an architectural expert and a social historian who unearth the fascinating pasts of these historical homes. Structurally, many of the buildings seemed too far gone to restore. We were encouraged to see the work that was being done to save these architectural gems.

Inspired by what I saw in the UK, I pitched the idea to Steve that we expose the stone walls in our interior. He flatly said no. We live in Canada, he reminded me - we need insulation. Fair enough.

History of the property

Steve and I were fortunate to have learned the stone house's history early on. Before we purchased, I contacted the librarian from the Ennotville Historical Library asking if she had any information on the building. She quickly and generously shared what she had. A neighbour also kindly loaned us a book about the area's history, including a chapter on Ennotville and its earliest buildings. I'm trying to learn more about the true pre-colonial Indigenous identity of the land the house sits on. For now, the written history I have begins with a Scottish settler.

The building was written about in great detail - it had played an important role in the community

In his history of Nichol Township, David M. Beattie wrote that a store and tavern were built on this lot in the early 1840s by a Scotsman named John McLaren. McLaren is the one who called the village Ennotville. A post office was established in the store in 1854.

Isobel Cunningham's essay on the Ennotville Country Store relays a detailed description of the store in the early 1900s:

"It was entered from the veranda through the door flanked on both sides by a large window. A bell above the door announced the customer. 

"To the left of the door inside was the post office, an arrangement of pigeon holes, built on the wall, a glass counter was also on that side and a wooden counter ran across the back."

The essay also describes the original wraparound veranda, and notes that McLaren donated the lot on which the library was built in 1856. So the stone house and library have a special connection.

Having this much of the building's history was more than I could have hoped. We were thrilled to have confirmation that we could work with the original structure, and knowing its history, even more inspired to save it.