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Religious convictions of the Van Normans had a lasting effect on the area. The first services of the Methodist Church in this district were held in the cellar kitchen of the Van Norman home, where Dr. Ryerson was one of the first preachers. Travelling by horseback around the country, ministers would stop at the Van Norman farm once a month, usually on a week day. Mr. Van Norman, who was a lay preacher, started Appleby Methodist Church around 1830 and helped buy land for Nelson United. Jane and her husband started services in their A.D. Emery home in Aldershot, which led to the founding of East Plains United Church. At first, there was only one other home between the Van Norman house and Burlington Heights, the site of Dundurn Castle. Mr. Van Norman had to travel to Crook's Hollow in Ancaster to get his wheat ground. Bricks for his house were made on the farm, where there was also a sawmill. Mrs. Gudgeon thinks the farmhouse faces the lake rather than the Queen Elizabeth Way because Mr. Van Norman believed the highway would run in front of his house, following an old Indian trail. The only other house facing the same direction was built by a son in 1848, just east of his father's land. A Hamilton architect, Arthur W. Wallace, who visited the house recently, said it could be renovated for about $50,000.00. This place is beautifully situated, with its close proximity to the city and is soundly built, he said. An interesting feature of the house was the centre window over the front entrance. It has quaintly crude wood trim, emphasizing the centre facade and obviously carried out from memory as the detail lacks the orthodox classic trim, Mr. Wallace said. The placing of the house on the hillside is a subtle and sensible arrangement that makes most modern split levels crude by comparison. At present, the land is zoned for agricultural use, but, under the new official plan, will be one of the later areas to be opened up - probably around 1975 - for industrial use. Said Mrs. Gudgeon: It's a shame a house like this will probably be torn down; perhaps the ideal think would be to have an historical group use it as a museum.