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mtUdl.-iSUTZ^ f/l V y <;> P/ P V I Zf I il ji I il /I il y 4 ^ 44' 4 \> z^vv'# (^xy Wednesday, April 22, 1998 COMMUNITY CALENDAR • LIFESTYLES • SPORTS • COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENCE • TV LISTINGS Village Landmark Gets New Lease on Life by Laura J. Richards Staff Writer For six years, the two-slorcy Victorian home at the northwest corner of Mill and Robert Streets, in Newcastle, stood empty as life passed it by. However, as the windows blackened with dirt and the building deteriorated further, neighbours fought off a proposal to pul in a day care centre following its conversion into a nursing home. And then along came Carl Good and his wife and business partner, Joyce Kufta, with hopes to set up a funeral service service in the village. The couple and their ideas were welcomed with open arms by the neighbours. Carl remembers driving by what is now Newcastle House and thinking that could make a fine place for a funeral home, but he found out that (being near the creek) he would not be able to expand the building if the business grew. Then they saw the house on the corner of Robert and Mill Streets. "I said, 'gross.' The trees were overgrown overgrown and the size was intimidating," Joyce said. The building was one of the first things people saw of Newcastle Village as they pulled off the westbound lanes of the 401. As Carl and Joyce saw it, the dilapidated building "wrecked the atmosphere of the village." "Even the (local) kids were afraid of the creepy-looking old house," she recalled. But they saw something beyond the building's shortcomings. Something that caught them and wouldn't let them escape. When their parents saw it "they said we were crazy," Joyce said. Carl added, "we used to work in a similar similar house (transformed as a funeral home) which was in a similar type of situation." situation." Joyce said: "So we were used to what a Victorian Home would be like..." "And we knew what we wanted to do," Carl observed. What it came down to was this: could the zoning be changed, and would they find a contractor who would be able to help them put their vision into reality? Yes, and yes...sort of. Carl and Joyce found out the developer developer who owned the entire property would be able to do the rezoning for them, but when it came down to finding a contractor, contractor, Orono resident Armond Young told them he would help them along, but it would be cheaper lor them to be their own general contractor. "He estimated what it would cost, and then, it became a labour of love for him." Carl noted, "we never even considered leveling the building. We wanted to have the feeling remain." However, Joyce did point out "it would have been less (expensive) to have started fresh." As it was, there was a lot of personal time invested in the property too, by the time everything was done just so. Personal Time Invested Carl and Joyce laugh about pulling up the tiles while using a small torch to loosen them. That process took the couple two weeks of after-work-labour. "We wanted to try to maintain the woodwork and the banister," Carl explained. So the work went slowly. It seems someone along the way had "smeared tar, put on tile, then laid a quarter-inch quarter-inch sub-floor and then tiled over top." Once they got down to the original flooring, they were told the oak was three-quarters of an inch thick, thus allowing them to sand to get rid of the left-over tar and nail holes. They did find some gems that they could keep and add flourishes to, including including the oak floor in the foyer and a beautiful beautiful stained glass window -- original to the house. Some items they had envisioned keeping, keeping, just didn't happen. For example, there were the pocket doors into the funeral home area of the building. Carl was quite disappointed when he found out fire codes would not allow that in a building building the public would be using. The doors had to be able to swing freely from both sides in case of an emergency. Also, there is new drywall up in the business section of the building, and the rounded ceilings were ditched. However, a trip upstairs into the couple's living quarters shows some of the original plaster plaster walls are still there. They were also able to keep some of the rounded ceilings in the downstairs foyer. Some modifications had to be made to allow for the business too, Carl mentioned. mentioned. He noted one part of a hallway in the back had to be modified because there was a tricky corner. It's where the addition addition to the house joined up. "We rounded it so you get a casket around it," he said. Over the past year of so, Carl and Joyce have been finding out about the history history of the house, mostly from Allan Gibson, the grandson of the building's second owners, the Howards. "It was built for'Thomas Montague who had followed his father's footsteps as a railroad engineer," Carl noted. "He did well for himself and got involved with the Grand Trunk Railroad. He was a single man, never married. "The property which went with the house built in the early 1900's -- probably probably between 1901 to 1905 .-- stretched from Mill St. to Church St., and there were tennis courts on the north side," Carl said. The estate was called 'Kilnniag.' There was also probably a garden with lots of shrubs, which Montague enjoyed. Rev. Scott Howard of St. George's and St, Savior's Anglican churches in Newcastle and Orono and his wife, Claire, looked after Montague until he died in 1928. The couple and their family lived north of Montague. After Montague died, the Howards inherited the estate. They sold it in 1952. From there, it went through a number of owners, including serving many years as a nursing home. "I can't believe this is the building we saw (before). It is such a grand old house," Joyce said. Carl says lie falls in love with the house again and again after seeing it in different lights and weather conditions. "When I look at it in the freshly fallen snow...I think, holy cow, I feel immense pride. All that work." Joyce interjected, laughing - "and we're still married." LAYERS OF WORK -- This is the hallway leading to the front door of Carl and Joyce's house and business as they originally found it. Note the brown square tiles. This is one layer of the flooring the couple had to tear up in their search for the original original oak floor. HOME SWEET HOME -- For Joyce and Carl the drywall dust, carpenters, electrical workers and so on, arc photographed photographed memories as they think about their house and business. However, they do remember how long it took to pry up the tiles that once covered the foyer hall, and smile at the things they put up with to make their dream a reality. reality. i'kîÿjliï. for' BEFORE -- This is what the house at the corner of Mill St. S„ and Robert St„ looked like prior to restoration.