FRIDAY,APRIL3,2020 | THE GLOBE AND MAILO HOMEOFTHEWEEK H5
THEBACKSTORY
One landmark property that
draws the attention of passers-by
in Guelph, Ont., is an English Tu-
dor revival home in the historic
enclave of St. George’s Park.
The house on a corner lot at
26 Stuart St. is the former coach
house of a stately home nearby.
The mansion, known as Ker
Cavan, was built between 1854
and 1856 for Rev. Arthur Palmer,
who was the rector of St. Georg-
e’s Anglican Church across the
river.
The 23-acre estate sat on a
bluff high above the Speed River.
Decades later, in 1925, the
manse was purchased by the in-
surance executive Henry Higin-
botham.
During an extensive overhaul
of his newly acquired estate, Hi-
ginbotham tore down an old
barn and stable and replaced
them with a building to house
his limousines. The gardener and
chauffeur also lived in the new
coach house, which was built in
1928.
Higinbotham’s gardener,
George Davies, raised five chil-
dren there with his wife, Edith.
The chauffeur, Alvin Ward, lived
with his family above the garage.
The coach house also con-
tained the heating system, which
funnelled warmth to the main
house through an underground
tunnel. That way, if there was a
fire or explosion in the furnace
room, the main house could be
protected from the inferno.
A glass greenhouse on a stone
foundation was attached to the
coach house so that Davies could
tend flowers and vegetables for
the estate.
Over time, the Ker Cavan
property was carved up to create
a leafy residential area that con-
nects to downtown Guelph
through a historic footbridge
over the Speed River.
“This neighbourhood sits on
the river’s edge where the Speed
meets the Eramosa,” says real es-
tate agent Aimee Puthon of
Coldwell Banker Neumann Real
Estate. “The setting is really quite
something in all four seasons.”
As the land was sub-divided, a
more recent house was built be-
tween Ker Cavan and its coach
house.
In 1988, the city of Guelph des-
ignated the coach house as a her-
itage property protected under
conservation rules. The designa-
tion covers the white stucco ex-
terior with black strapping, some
of the towering trees that line
the grounds and a picturesque
wishing well.
“It’s kind of famous in the
Guelph community,” says Ms.
Puthon of 26 Stuart, which was
featured on the Doors Open ar-
chitectural tour in 2017.
Two of the visitors who joined
a tour of the property were the
daughters of the former garden-
er, Davies.
THEHOUSETODAY
Owners Lynne and Rob Wolsten-
holme purchased the three-bed-
room house in 2014.
“It’s a lovely old home,” Ms.
Wolstenholme says. “There is so
much history.”
She enjoyed collecting old sto-
ries and vintage photographs,
which she plans to leave for fu-
ture owners.
Soon after purchasing the
property, the Wolstenholmes un-
dertook their own renovation to
update the interior while pre-
serving the exterior and grounds.
The home needed new insula-
tion to replace the old horse hair
in the walls and newspaper
around the chimneys. There’s a
new furnace and modern kitch-
en and bathrooms.
Today, the house has more
than 4,000 square feet of living
space, including a deep base-
ment.
Guests arrive to a foyer that
leads to a great room with living
and dining areas.
A wall of French doors over-
looks the garden.
Ms. Wolstenholme says she
learned from local residents that
the great room has a concrete
floor below the hardwood be-
cause that was the area that
housed the cars in the 1920s.
“I still learn because it’s a fa-
mous little house in Guelph.”
The original kitchen was
cramped and hemmed in by a
large brick fireplace.
“This was servants’ quarters,”
she points out.
The Wolstenholmes took over
a sitting area and removed the
fireplace in order to create an ex-
pansive new kitchen with a large
island and breakfast bar.
The kitchen has built-in ap-
pliances, a coffee bar and a win-
dow seat.
Upstairs, the house has a mas-
ter bedroom with an ensuite
bathroom. The couple updated
the bathroom with a walk-in
shower and his-and-hers vani-
ties, but they kept the fixtures –
such as a deep claw foot tub – in
keeping with the heritage of the
home.
In the main bathroom, the
couple preserved a cast-iron tub
that Ms. Wolstenholme believes
is original to the house.
There are two additional bed-
rooms and an open landing
overlooking the living area.
Downstairs the home has a
basement with a 10-foot-high
ceiling. The deep basement – un-
usual in a coach house – was cre-
ated to keep the heating system.
Today, the basement providesa large recreation room and the
tunnel has long been filled in.
The former entrance is hidden
behind a bar and entertaining ar-
ea.
Ms. Wolstenholme has visited
Ker Cavan and seen the other
end of the tunnel, which ap-
peared rather grim.
“It’s certainly not romantic.
It’s utilitarian for sure,” she says.
On the main floor of the coach
house, the former potting shed
has been turned into a mud
room close to the garage.
Outside, there’s a stone ter-
race and extensive gardens.
Ms. Puthon says the home re-
mains on the market during the
COVID-19 crisis, but there are no
open houses and strict precau-
tions are being taken around
showings.
She has created a website with
virtual tours and photo galleries
online.
The market in Guelph is still
moving, she says, but the real es-
tate business is adapting on a
daily basis to the state of emer-
gency.
“We’re watching it in slow mo-
tion from country to country
and it feels fast and slow at the
same time,” she says of the pan-
demic.THEBEST FEATUREThe gardens are the creation of
John Reinhart, who has been
tending the property since the
1990s, Ms. Wolstenholme says.
Mr. Reinhart, grounds manag-
er at the University of Guelph,
designed the main garden in- When the Wolstenholmes
took over, they replaced one of
the home’s two driveways with a
new garden area.
Mr. Reinhart planned the
walkways, trellises and plantings
for the expanded gardens, she
says.
Today the property is shel-
tered by trees that were planted
more than a century ago. There’s
a long-established lilac bush, for-
sythia growing over the trellises
and beds full of perennials and
tall grasses.
In the spring, an abundance of
tulips come into bloom.
“People just stop and stare at
the gardens,” Ms. Wolstenholme
says.
Children love the antique
wishing well, which stands in an
area her grandchildren call the
“secret garden,” she says.
“It makes a good little scary
place for Halloween.”
Renovatedcoachhousesitsonlandmarkestate
Heritagepropertythat
is‘famousintheGuelph
community’hasbeen
givenamodernupgrade
CAROLYNIRELANDGUELPH, ONT.
26StuartSt.
GUELPH, ONT.
Asking price: $1,775,000
Taxes: $7,577.00 (2019)
Lot size: Under ½ acre
Agent:Aimee Puthon (Coldwell
Banker Neumann RealEstate)
Thecoachhouseat26StuartSt.inGuelph,Ont.,wasbuiltin1928toholdinsuranceexecutiveHenryHiginbotham’slimousines.Italsoprovided
housingforHiginbotham’sgardenerandchauffeur,aswellastheirfamilies.PHOTOSBYVISUALADVANTAGEThekitchenwasrenovatedtocreateanexpansive,modernspacewithalargeislandandbreakfastbar.But
theproperty’sbestfeatureisthegarden:‘Peoplejuststopandstare,’homeownerLynneWolstenholmesays.Today,thehousehasmorethan4,000squarefeetoflivingspace.List Price $500,000
Buyer to be aware that accommodation with
the other owner and partition/subdividing
is not possible.
Court ordered sale of a fractional less than
½ interest in 6053 28thAvenue, Delta, BC V4L 2N6.
The property is 9.053 acres in size, is zoned A1
agricultural and is adjacent to the South Fraser
Perimeter Road. The property has two residential
buildings: the principle residence an accessory
farmhouse.
The interest being sold is subject to a first mortgage
registered against the Lands under no. CA1177117
on July 7, 2009 at 11:15 in favor of The Toronto
Dominion Bank in the sum of $740,000.00 against
the entire property.
Please text or call Chai Chung
for more information.(778)839-8896•[email protected]
COMMERCIAL•RESIDENTIAL•AGRICULTUREChai Chung PREC*
REALTOR