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Now
reduced to about a hundred acres, this property was part of a much larger
grant of land deeded by the Crown to King's College, a precursor of the
University of Toronto, in the 1830's. The University soon sold the whole
package, which was subsequently divided into a number of farms established
by immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. Like many farms carved out of
the forest in Eastern Ontario, it provided a living for several generations.
The soils are relatively thin and stony, the terrain convoluted and in
places steeply-sloping. Limestone forms the bedrock, with some outcroppings
of granite attesting to the proximity of the Canadian Shield. First cleared
of their native forest cover, the fields were then annually cleared of
stones hauled into the hedgerows between the fields and in places piled
up to build low stone walls. Cedar was plentiful in the swampy areas and
the original split rail fences still stand, as does one section of perimeter
fencing made of massive pine roots
upended and interlaced. Today the main crop is hay which is used by local
small-scale dairy farmers along with corn
and sometimes other field crops.
The
original house was a single large room of post and beam construction, with
an upstairs loft and a large cistern under the ground floor to hold rainwater.
In 1897 a much grander addition was built, again of post and beam framing,
but with an exterior of red brick instead of the clapboards which still
cover the original dwelling. When the disasters of the 1930's and 1940's
made the farm unsustainable, the house was abandoned. Surprisingly it survived
years of neglect and abuse. In the 1970's a difficult program of restoration
by the new owners began and the house
is again alive. |
