Tags
farm, Georgian, House, interior, Interiors, Ontario, PEC, Prince Edward County, Regency, renovation, Restoration, Rural
Sporadic storms results in weird leaks (Week 15) | Gorsline House
This summer has been unbelievably dry. Our vegetable garden at the farm has suffered without us around to water the plants throughout the week, but things have fared remarkably well with such dry conditions. The house, however, still has a few leaky spots that reveal themselves when we do get a spot of rain. A number of threshold treads are missing and they’re clearly needed to help keep the water out. There are various cracked panes of glass that would be fine if storm windows were in place, but we’ll have to work on some glazing in the meantime.
Painting production line (Week 15) | Gorsline House
Still waiting on the beadboard order. It’s amazing how something so simple can hold up a whole job site. The master ensuite bathroom needs beadboard wainscoting installed before the bath tub can be placed; similarly, the ceiling below can’t be finished until the plumbing for the bath is installed and sealed. Our hopes for a three-month renovation were wild dreams considering we’re nearing month five on the schedule. That said, it’s good to see clear examples of progress each weekend we visit the property.
New Window Apron (Week 15) | Gorsline House
I mentioned before that some original window casings were kept in place, which posed a challenge when trying to keep the finished wall surface at the same level as the original plaster will all the stuff that went behind it (new steel studs, spray foam insulation, etc.). A small compromise, given the sides of the casing look a bit sunk into the wall, is replacement of the apron with a new piece of trim planed down to keep the setback from the sill consistent.
The neighbour’s brush fire… still burning (Week 15) | Gorsline House
The lot across the road is owned by a real estate agent/tractor collector who uses the barn to store his toys. The swampy end of Fish Lake starts at the trees directly in front of the house, but we’ve had to look at piles of brush, garbage and a deconstructed school bus since we bought the house. Thankfully, the lot is protected wetland (our neighbour to the east fought a proposal to break it into building lots) so we won’t have more neighbours encroaching on our privacy. This week the garbage pile miraculously disappeared – burnt off during a ‘no fires’ warning period – but it continues to smoulder and smoke.
Scant updates for now. Impatience be damned.
gorslinehouse 
I stumbled upon your blog while searching for information on 272 Victoria Road, Ameliasburgh. I should be working but have already spent much of the morning reading your entire blog. I admire your tenacity for such a project and would welcome words of encouragement (or discouragement!) with respect to the property which I may purchase and you featured in one of your entries.
Best, Steve
Hi Steve,
272 Victoria Road is a beautiful building, but would be a daunting project given its current state of (dis)repair. If you are looking for a house with lots of original material, 272 is a goldmine even though the frame wings were lost recently. If I had the chance, I would peel back the layers carefully as I’m frustrated with the loss of some ‘grandfathered’ structural features in my own house. Others have taken issue with the fact that 272 has been severed on a one-acre lot – farmland has good value in PEC. The surrounding granite presents a number of challenges including waste management, landscaping, etc. However, that all depends on how much of a purist you are and what your intended use of the house is.
Thanks for your insight. I’m only in a position to inspect the property after Labour Day. If we do decide to move forward I’d be grateful if we could keep in contact.
All the best, Steve
I’d love to purchase 272 and yes it is in Settlers Dreams. However, living next to the Dryden House here in Brooklin, I know for a fact the owners bought it for $500,000 and spent $500,000 upgrading it and it wasn’t nearly as in bad shape as the Gibson/Young House (272). I don’t have $500,000 to spend on a project like that. Keep up the good work. You look like you are doing a fantastic job.
Thanks, Elizabeth! We don’t have $500,000 either, and are keeping a close eye on our budget knowing it is tied to bank financing and final valuation. The Gibson/Young house has the potential to be a very expensive project – special carpentry work for heritage buildings carries some added cost, but fixing structural issues with the limestone rubble shell could break the bank. The conservator’s mantra “do as little as possible, as much as necessary” should be applied to most heritage properties that need restoration; it’s just difficult to know the extent of a house’s needs from the outset.