I have mentioned here before that I’m a big fan of Escape to the Country, the British show that features city folk looking for homes in the country. I especially like the converted barns, mills, pubs and even churches, renovated and updated. Brits seem to treasure their older buildings; we simply knock them down – at great cost to our landfills. Here’s a tale of two homes in Elphinstone that were lovingly restored.
About 10 years ago, Hermann and Susanne Ziltener bought a mobile home on a five-acre lot across from the Reed Road Forest, originally put there by a couple who bought the lot from the Giesbrechts about 30 years ago. They were avid gardeners, and the property features beautiful and unique trees and shrubs. They sold it to Frank and Marianne West, who lived out their remaining days there.
Enter the Zilteners, who bought it in 2008 and began renovating; they added an expanded and lovely kitchen and turned the potting shed into another bedroom. Outside they built a pottery studio, a woodshed, greenhouse and a gorgeous patio, all with the help of Victor Marteddu, a builder in his 80s and about whom Hermann cannot say enough good! I can attest that it is a lovely piece of paradise and you can understand why the couple does not want to see the forest logged and the two streams that bisect their property compromised.
The second home stands at the corner of King and Chaster roads – the original home of the King family, which was empty and had fallen into disrepair before Hans and Charlene Penner bought it in 2013. Hans estimates it was built in the 1930s and still had knob and tube wiring. They filled in a hidden well, which he almost fell into, with material from the driveway reconstruction.
The challenges were many, including removing and replacing windows, doors and the old chimney from top to bottom, brick by brick. They reconstructed the bathroom and kitchen, including walls, plumbing and electrical and insulated the crawl space. We sometimes dropped by during the three-year renovation project, which saw Hans and Charlene industriously working to install new floors and repaint the house inside and out. There is now a new deck and stairs; it is a completely restored and lovely heritage home.
We weren’t the only ones to stop by; Hans says that an “interesting and rewarding part of the experience was the frequent stopping by of people who noticed something being done on the place. They almost all mentioned they had been aware of the house for many years and were wondering what was going on… One local artist stopped with a gift of a print of a painting of the historic root cellar on the property.”
Thanks to Barb Cochran for the suggestion to write about renovated buildings in Elphinstone; if you know of a historic building or have other news, contact me at: [email protected]
