A river runs through it
A wet basement just added to the appeal to take a rundown mill and restore it
When you have a wet basement that cannot be fixed, you need to make the best of it. Céline Péladeau and Rick Sidock put a hot tub in theirs. And while luxuriating in the tub, they can even try some trout or bass fishing. The Cataraqui River runs through the couple’s basement in an old mill beside Chaffey’s Lock on the Rideau Canal near Westport.
The couple bought the historic mill six years ago for about $265,000. By the time they have finished converting it into a luxurious bed and breakfast, which they hope will be next year, they expect to have sunk close to $800,000 into their dream home.
The project is a work in progress. But the owners believe they have already done the most challenging part. From the outside, the building looks pictureperfect, with a new $70,000 copper-coloured tin roof, repointed stone walls and exterior woodwork gleaming under five coats of new paint. Inside, the structure has been stabilized, dry rot has been dealt with and the chimney has been rebuilt and enlarged.
“People think we are nuts for taking this on,” says Sidock, 60. He and Péladeau, 51, are life partners who both work as nurses at The Ottawa Hospital. Adds Sidock: “Friends tried to dissuade us from doing this. We just hope to break even and have a good time.”
Of the running water in the basement, Sidock says: “A wet basement is usually a reason not to buy, but for us it was the opposite.”
The basement is home to several pairs of barn swallows. They return every year to the same mud nests on the wood beams. There’s not much use that can be made of the basement — except as a good spot for a hot tub, and later perhaps a bar — since it must remain open to the elements to let the river water flow through.
Above are two floors, each measuring about 1,200 square feet. They plan to leave the main floor as mostly open space, with a large and luxurious new kitchen overlooking the river and the lock.
On the second floor, they plan to have four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom and a sitting room.
For now, one of the couple’s favourite spots is a screened-in porch where they sleep on warm summer nights. It has a sign that reads Dream Room.
“It’s where we dream of ideas for what we are going to make of our home,” Péladeau says.
They believe their building is one of the most popular structure on the Rideau Canal for artists and photographers. It sits on 1.4 acres of land in one of the most picturesque spots on the canal, beside Chaffey’s Lock and looking out across Lake Opinicon. It has 320 feet of waterfront.
The grist mill was built in 1872 by John Elswood Chaffey, for whom the lock is named. There is a photograph taken in 1904 showing how part of the building collapsed, either due to a sudden surge of water or vibration from the mill’s machinery.
The mill was rebuilt and continued to operate until the mid1920s. Later, it became a summer cottage.
The real estate ad that caught the couple’s attention six years ago said, in part: “This unique waterfront property has history galore! Waiting for a creative mind.” Sidock says the previous owner accepted the couple’s purchase offer “because we are Canadian and we are energetic and had a dream for this place.”
The purchase price was for the building only. The land is owned by Parks Canada, which has leased it to the mill’s owners for 30 years, with an option to renew for a further 30 years. Sidock and Péladeau prefer not to disclose how much they are paying to rent the land.
So far they have spent about $400,000 on the property, including the purchase price. They estimate it will cost between $350,000 and $400,000 more to complete the transformation.
Besides all the work to be done to remodel the first and second floors, the staircases must be rebuilt, and heating and plumbing must be installed. Insulation of the whole building is also required. A garage is planned where an old shed once stood and water purification equipment and septic tanks are also needed.
If all goes well, they hope to open the bed and breakfast next summer.