Century home shows off original features
Renovations and additions add space while protecting character of 1851 house
Location: 8240 Wilson St., Ash St. and 2 Line, Edin Mills Asking price: $1,295,000 Size: about 4,000 square feet, plus about 1,500 square feet of partially finished basement Lot: 10 hectares, double-car attached garage and single-car detached garage, private drive Taxes: $7,103 (2015) Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 3 An Irish settler originally built this two-storey home in 1851, and since then extensive renovations and additions, completed in 1999, have transformed the space. The home is on a treed lot in Eden Mills, a town east of Guelph, Ont., and about an hour’s commute by car to Toronto.
“My history with the house started in 1977, when my husband and I bought the home,” says owner Maureen Mercer. “Along with a mainfloor sunroom addition, we added a second-floor master bedroom suite with high ceilings, an ensuite bathroom and two spacious walk-in closets. On the main level, we added a laundry room combined with a mud room. As well, we built a garage to accommodate multiple cars and a workshop.”
During the renovations, the couple made sure to keep as many of the original features of the home as possible, such as the banister and staircase to the second floor.
The home is set back from a paved road and has direct access to Guelph Line. Guelph itself is a 15-minute drive away, Hwy. 401 is a 20-minute drive south, and it takes only a few minutes by car to reach Rockwood Conservation Area, says Mercer.
Schools and churches are also in the town, which hosts the annual Eden Mills Writers’ Festival.
“(The festival) draws popular Canadian writers and storytellers,” says Mercer, who adds that Eden Mills, in 2007, started pursuing the goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral community in North America.
At Mercer’s house, two cars and a workshop occupy the three-car attached garage. Along with interior renovations, the home features structural and exterior upgrades, including the construction of a two-bay driving shed and a new roof.
“What impresses me most about the home is that the owners have been sympathetic to the period of the original house while renovating and creating the additions,” says listing agent Brad Douglas.
He adds that although the thought of acquiring a century home has a romantic notion, generally, the purchase of a country property comes with the challenges of older electrical and mechanical systems. The owners solved all of those issues, he says.
One thing that makes the home quite special, Douglas says, is every room appears to have an interesting view to some degree. “Along with the handsome building, this home has views in all directions, whether it be the beautiful gardens, trees, pastures, or down the winding lane.”
The home’s historic-looking front exterior has a stone facade, a veranda and a central peaked roof with an arched window below. The home’s addition has a board-and-batten façade and is visible from the side and back of the home.
Windows flank both sides of the front door, which is topped by an arched transom window.
The foyer has a stone-tile floor, a coat closet, and access to the attached garage.
Adjacent to the foyer is a powder room and a laundry room/mud room with a stone-tile floor.
A wood-burning fireplace with a floor-to-ceiling stone surround accents the spacious great room, which also contains a hardwood floor, a beamed ceiling, a huge bay window, pot lights and double French doors with a transom window above them.
The formal dining room contains a hardwood floor and three windows with southern and eastern exposure.
Highlights of the large eat-in kitchen include a pantry, granite counters, a hardwood floor, double sinks, ceramic-tile backsplash, a built-in desk with built-in shelves above and a breakfast bar/centre island with cabinetry. There is an adjoining breakfast area with hardwood floor, chandelier-type light and two windows.
Double french doors from the great room open to the semi-circular heated sunroom, featuring wraparound windows, a stone-tile floor, pot lights and a walkout to a large wraparound deck and patio with an awning.
On the second level, the master bedroom is outfitted with a vaulted ceiling, a broadloom floor, a large dressing room with built-in cabinets, a walk-in closet with a built-in wardrobe, and a four-piece ensuite that features a pine floor and a skylight.
The second bedroom has a pine floor, track lights and two windows. The third and fourth bedrooms both have large closets and pine floors.
A three-piece bathroom serves the secondary bedrooms.
Partially finished, the lower level features a large office room with a broadloom floor, track lights, a separate entrance and three large above-grade windows. The basement also houses two storage rooms and a wine cellar.
The home has an outdoor storage space, and a huge lot with many mature trees, gardens, landscaped shrubbery and rolling grassy terrain.
To view this property, contact listing agents Brad Douglas, Chestnut Park Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage, and Murray Taylor, Royal LePage Royal City Realty Ltd., Brokerage; bradleydouglas.com; bit.ly/1UAoNau Although we try to provide the most up-to-date information available, we cannot guarantee features as listed. Please contact the realtor for latest details. To make a submission to Home of the Week, email soldhome@rogers.com.