My Country Farmhouse – New Details About Lady Mathison

Today while I was out shovelling I had a stranger stop by. As be pulled into my driveway I thought he may be lost. But then he got out of the car and came over while taking in the house. “Wow” he said “I use to live here many years ago.” His name, Brian. After introductions I took this opportunity to get as much information about the house as possible. Anything he might know about how it originally looked I needed to find out.

We started on the exterior of the house. He repaired the posts and porch many years ago and while doing so found an old large penny which he tucked back under the post as a keep sake. And under another post he decided to hide a toonie. My porch is actually worth a few bucks HAHA. And the original balcony was round – which I will someday redo.

Next we moved inside the house. The kitchen was originally in the now sitting room where he added the half bath (which we learned from Dianne the previous owner). The room which is now the kitchen was a walk-in pantry with a tin ceiling and crown moulding. I bet it was just glorious back in the day. The owners just before Brian and Dianne had actually taken it down. So unfortunate. But now I have some details that I can hopefully add back in to the kitchen renovation when it’s time. He and his brother added the steal beam in the basement and re-levelled the entire house as it was sagging in the middle. Although the floors are still a little wonky they do feel very sturdy.

I asked about the two Singer Sewing machines left in the basement, if they were original to the house, they were not. One was Dianne’s mothers he believes and the other was something they were given. I told him I still have one of the vintage dressers and the oversized mirror that was on the wall in the Livingroom. He asked if I was able to repair the missing wood pieces on it. I haven’t yet, but I will eventually.

He was impressed at the paved driveway (who wouldn’t be after having a gravel driveway forever) and said that the addition (previously Dianne’s office) now my laundry/pantry/mud room was actually an old carriage house. Back in the day they would drive the horse carriage in a store it. I loved hearing this. My imagination is running wild just thinking about how glorious this house was 100 years ago.

I told him of some of the projects coming up over the next few years, landscaping, new garage doors, a new kitchen, new porch, and a new master bedroom. He seemed very happy that this house is being well looked after. And it is. And I’m sure he will come by another day in the future to see more changes. And perhaps once Covid is gone or under control he can come in and take a look around at the incredible transformation happening inside.

Hopefully more details of this property come forward, perhaps some pictures to show some of the original details. Until that time I will continue to move forward with my projects.

🙂