POSTING #146

“YOU CAN’T GO HOME AGAIN”
(Title of a novel by Thomas Wolfe.)

A week ago we were in Richmond Hill buying clothes for my Bicentennial 1812 ‘persona’ (I am going to be a retired surveyor who was born in Scotland in 1736, immigrated with his family to Philadelphia, trained there as a surveyor, then left the US after the 1776 revolutionary war to settle in Niagara, in Upper Canada. A future Posting will describe the clothes Pat and I will be wearing, and include some photos---you won’t want to miss that!)

After we had finished at the period-clothing shop and had had lunch we decided to carry on to Aurora to see how Pat’s hometown had changed, and most importantly, to have a look at the house in which she had spent her teenage years, at 100 Kennedy St. West. (Pat spent the first years of her life in a house at 26 Yonge St. but in 1950 her parents built the house on Kennedy.)

Her mother designed the house, producing detailed sketches of both the interior and exterior, sketches that she and Pat’s dentist dad, Dr. E.J. Henderson (known as ‘Doc’or ‘Hendy’ to everyone in Aurora) pored over in the evenings in the Yonge St. house. An architect, who was mightily impressed by the drawings, smoothed out some technical issues, and work began on the house.

The house, situated in the middle of a five acre lot, was built with top class materials---carefully selected stone for the exterior and thick rich oak for the floors and stairs.

As we drove up Highway 11 from Richmond Hill, Pat recalled how her family had moved into the house when it was only partly completed, and how they had to put up with workmen under their feet as the finishing touches were installed. She particularly remembered the incessant noise of carpenters driving walnut pegs into the thick and wide oak floor planks.

No nails or screws---pegs! The house was built to last.

We drove around the town, saving the house to the end

Although there were many changes, Pat was impressed with how many landmarks still existed.

There was the Ardill block on the corner of Yonge and Wellington where her dad had his dental office, on the second floor. The wall on the Wellington St. side now sports a huge two-story high “Oh Canada’ mural depicting figures from Canadian history, from Sir John A. Macdonald to Foster Hewitt and Marilyn Bell

Pat's father's dental office faced onto Wellington St., through the mural that now covers that  side of the building.

There was her public school that now seems to be a cultural centre, and the substantial protestant churches (there was no Catholic church in Aurora when Pat was growing up---Catholics had to go to Newmarket).

Pat attended the Aurora Public school from Grade 1 to Grade 7, when the school was closed and replaced with a new one. Pat took her Grade 8 at the Aurora High School. During her High School years, the old high school was closed and also replaced with a new one. The 1950s was a decade of great school construction in Ontario!

 Then we turned onto Kennedy St. West.

Pat pointed out ‘Colonel Dan’s’ house on the left as we drove along. Pat thinks that Colonel Dan had been in the military and the RCMP. He was famous to our generation as the Mountie on a horse in some of our Ontario textbooks. The house, probably built in the late 1800s or early 1900s, is being beautifully maintained.

As we drove further along Kennedy Street, Pat pointed out houses that had been replaced by new, modern, large homes. Although the old houses had had a certain early-1900s charm, they didn’t have the quiet elegance and quality of Pat’s family home. Their disappearance wasn’t a great loss to the history or culture of the town.

Pat's bedroom was behind the gable on the far left of the picture. We aren't sure when this picture was taken but the tall TV  antenna suggests that it was probably in the 1950s or 1960s.

As we got close to 100 Kennedy, we recalled that one of our sons had passed by his grandparent’s house two years ago and said that the house seemed to be in good shape and well-maintained.

There was a fairly high hedge in front of 100 so we weren’t able to get a look at the house until we stopped at the gap made by the driveway.

We looked in but didn't see Pat’s house!

Instead we saw a broad, two-story, stone-faced building with a copper turret, and a portico with pillars.

We checked the street number again. Yes, it said ‘100’.

What had happened to the house built so lovingly by Pat’s parents?

Had someone built around the old house, and incorporated it into the new dwelling?

Or, had they simply torn down Pat’s house to make room for this mansion?

The sentimental journey back to the family home had turned sour.

We headed back to Virgil, puzzled and troubled.

Some research showed us that 100 Kennedy was bought for $1.5 million in 2010 (we guess it was just after our son had seen it) and then the house was demolished.

The new dwelling was built in 2011. We don’t have a photo of it but there is a Google satellite view of the new house.

As one zooms in, it is clear that the house is huge, with a number of connected parts, one of which may be an indoor pool. In the backyard there seem to be terraces with an outdoor pool.

Further research showed that neighbouring houses have sold in the three to four million dollar range, so the new owners could afford to pay $1.5 million for the house and land, demolish the house, and build a new home without exceeding the going-price in the neighbourhood.

A millionaires’ row, indeed.

Pat’s father clearly knew what he was doing when he bought a lot on Kennedy St. West.

At first we felt annoyed, and even angry, at what the new owners had done but as we learned a little about them our view started to change. The couple is prominent in business in the area and very active in fundraising for local institutions, including the Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket.

It was just the shock, really.

And the realization that is forced upon us constantly as we age---that tempus does indeed fugit.

And what do we make of the claim in the title of Thomas Wolfe’s novel--- used as the heading for this Posting--- that “You Can’t Go Home Again”?

The answer seems to be that it IS possible to ‘go home’ but that the home you knew may not be there.

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An interesting sidebar on the story.

The new owners of 100 Kennedy West appear to own an office building on Yonge Street that is exactly on the spot (26 Yonge St.) where Pat spent the first 14 years of her life.

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See you on May 27, 2012 for Posting #147 with more stories from our family’s universe! If you have comments or suggestions, please drop me a line at johnpathunter@gmail.com.

Note:

In Posting #8 in the companion Icewine Guru Blog, the Guru offers his prediction on the US Supreme Court decision on the health care mandate. He and the Professor and their wives then discuss religion and politics. If you would like to read the Posting, please click on: http://theicewineguru.blogspot.ca/