Guests for dinner
UPDATE: This dinner occurred months and months ago and has been sitting in DRAFT for a loooong time now. Made a few edits to it, to reflect the truths learned since the dinner.
We had guests for dinner! This is a usual thing. One of the things I love best about the house is how great it is to entertain there. But these guests? Used to LIVE in our home!
The third owners of the house were a couple, Thelma and Carl. They had 4 kids, a girl, boy and 2 female twins. They bought the house in the late 1950's or early 1960's, from the Turner family, who bought it from Chas Kirkhoff. Carl was born in Germany and lived there long enough to learn many trades there, before coming to Canada.
And he brought his skills and ingenuity to the house! Things that happened during their ownership:
The fireplace was refinished in the 1970's, and the old facade and bookcases on either side removed because the previous owner wanted a component stereo system... so on the left of the bookcase was the stereo. Put in the late 1970's. And on the right and along the inside was storage, with covered doors. But at least we know our vision for the home would have fit its original look. We want to put back those bookcases. And maybe add small windows above?
The "original " fixtures? Nope! Old, but not original. the one was taken to their new house by the previous owners. I may sneak over to take a picture of the real original fixture.
The people after Carl and Thelma owned a TV studio, Great Northern Productions. They produced shows such as Acorn the Nature Nut! And apparently episodes were shot in our dining room. Talking to the neighbour, the previous owner owned a TV studio, so this is making sense? Apparently it's the studio people that put all the brick walks and the stone deck.
The green tile at the front was once smaller, and was stone from the mountains, that Thelma, Carl and their 4 kids put on the floor of their little red car and drove back to Edmonton.
The kitchen, the kitchen eating area and the halls are terracotta-like tile. They used to be wood.
The addition foundation is a wooden foundation. The foundation has also been re-dug and redone, apparently in the 1990's? And apparently bucketload by bucketload. Over YEARS. Thelma watched from next door.
Our upstairs bathroom? Was originally a bathroom! And then it was converted to a bedroom (for the 4th kid) and the linen closet was turned into a bathroom. Maybe just a toilet? And thus explains why the house has no linen closet! The owners before us spent tens of thousands of dollars to turn the bedroom back into a bathroom. And the former bathroom was added to what is now the master suite's closet, instead of a linen closet. Although we're going to remove the claw foot tub from the main floor, and create a linen closet in it's place. A lady needs a place to put her linens!
It was Thelma's husband that closed in the porch, in the early 1960's. Before that, it had walls and windows, but would get dusty and dirty and was never used. And now it's my office and lovingly used a lot.
The front windows on the house were moved from the old external wall to the new one. They are original to the house. And the damage to the sill of the middle window? Thelma's dog, Tuffy. A small dog, schnauzer? Have to re-confirm. Someone was breaking into the house across the street (Kris and Ty's place). Carl and Thelma weren't home at the time, but when they did get home? Poor Tuffy has wood embedded in his paws and there was blood everywhere. There was a little old lady that lived in the house, who didn't trust banks. She stored her money in her mattress. And it was all taken that night... I wonder how she fared... But the damage to the right window? NOT Tuffy.
From other neighbours we heard that Tim and Tara's dog was a bit protective of the house and (according to neighbourhood lore) was so aggressively barking and pawing against the front window that the glass was shattered. Two separate times. So that right window damage? Newer. And the reason that the glass doesn't seem as wavy as original glass should have been? REPLACED.
It's amazing to hear the stories, capture the changes, see how our home has evolved to become the phenomenal and welcoming place it is today.
We had guests for dinner! This is a usual thing. One of the things I love best about the house is how great it is to entertain there. But these guests? Used to LIVE in our home!
The third owners of the house were a couple, Thelma and Carl. They had 4 kids, a girl, boy and 2 female twins. They bought the house in the late 1950's or early 1960's, from the Turner family, who bought it from Chas Kirkhoff. Carl was born in Germany and lived there long enough to learn many trades there, before coming to Canada.
And he brought his skills and ingenuity to the house! Things that happened during their ownership:
The fireplace was refinished in the 1970's, and the old facade and bookcases on either side removed because the previous owner wanted a component stereo system... so on the left of the bookcase was the stereo. Put in the late 1970's. And on the right and along the inside was storage, with covered doors. But at least we know our vision for the home would have fit its original look. We want to put back those bookcases. And maybe add small windows above?
The "original " fixtures? Nope! Old, but not original. the one was taken to their new house by the previous owners. I may sneak over to take a picture of the real original fixture.
The people after Carl and Thelma owned a TV studio, Great Northern Productions. They produced shows such as Acorn the Nature Nut! And apparently episodes were shot in our dining room. Talking to the neighbour, the previous owner owned a TV studio, so this is making sense? Apparently it's the studio people that put all the brick walks and the stone deck.
The green tile at the front was once smaller, and was stone from the mountains, that Thelma, Carl and their 4 kids put on the floor of their little red car and drove back to Edmonton.
The kitchen, the kitchen eating area and the halls are terracotta-like tile. They used to be wood.
The addition foundation is a wooden foundation. The foundation has also been re-dug and redone, apparently in the 1990's? And apparently bucketload by bucketload. Over YEARS. Thelma watched from next door.
Our upstairs bathroom? Was originally a bathroom! And then it was converted to a bedroom (for the 4th kid) and the linen closet was turned into a bathroom. Maybe just a toilet? And thus explains why the house has no linen closet! The owners before us spent tens of thousands of dollars to turn the bedroom back into a bathroom. And the former bathroom was added to what is now the master suite's closet, instead of a linen closet. Although we're going to remove the claw foot tub from the main floor, and create a linen closet in it's place. A lady needs a place to put her linens!
It was Thelma's husband that closed in the porch, in the early 1960's. Before that, it had walls and windows, but would get dusty and dirty and was never used. And now it's my office and lovingly used a lot.
The front windows on the house were moved from the old external wall to the new one. They are original to the house. And the damage to the sill of the middle window? Thelma's dog, Tuffy. A small dog, schnauzer? Have to re-confirm. Someone was breaking into the house across the street (Kris and Ty's place). Carl and Thelma weren't home at the time, but when they did get home? Poor Tuffy has wood embedded in his paws and there was blood everywhere. There was a little old lady that lived in the house, who didn't trust banks. She stored her money in her mattress. And it was all taken that night... I wonder how she fared... But the damage to the right window? NOT Tuffy.
From other neighbours we heard that Tim and Tara's dog was a bit protective of the house and (according to neighbourhood lore) was so aggressively barking and pawing against the front window that the glass was shattered. Two separate times. So that right window damage? Newer. And the reason that the glass doesn't seem as wavy as original glass should have been? REPLACED.
It's amazing to hear the stories, capture the changes, see how our home has evolved to become the phenomenal and welcoming place it is today.
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