The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

eC ¥3 PON VEN s - 10 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 4, 1968 ¥ 8 Historic home takes on new look About 125 years ago, a large house was built at the corner of Queen and Bigelow Street, in Port Perry, and over those years it has seen many changes. Pehaps the most dramtic of these changes is the one now underway by the its lastest owners, Karl and Fran Herder. The Herders' told the Star last week, renovations on their home have sparked a lot of controversy on the street from both neighbours and other residents of the commu- nity. In fact Fran says, "we have heard that people think we are building apartments and have even had the suggestion that a restaurant would . be going into the building." But nothing could be further from the truth. The house when completed will be their home, and Fran can hardly wait until its com- pleted. When the Star asked if it would be finished for Christmas, the answer from Fran was "it bet- ter be", with a smile as she glanced at husband Karl at the end of the table. Just why the Herders' bought the house and then tore it apart is one - that has been asked by many peo- ple, including its former owners Mr. and Mrs. Irv Gibson. Karl answers the question very simply. "When we saw the house, it wan't exactly what we wanted, but we could see the potential". Since taking possession of the house at the end of July, Karl has had two crews of workers on the job up to 15 hours a day doing the necessary renovations and repairs. The structure of the old house was not it great shape and al- though Karl knew there would be a lot of work involved in the resora- tion, it was even more than he im- As the project got underway he removed the old kitchen and laun- dry areas, sold the two car garage, removed all the windows, jacked up the floor (which had a 6 inch sway), and in doing that cracked all of the plaster walls. This necessi- tated removing all the old lathe and plaster from the walls. In all, Karl says, the removal of the debris from the renovation cost over $2000 to get rid of at the local dump. It was about this time the Herd- "er's son Jade, 11, decided to place a time-capsule in the house. He had all the of men who worked on the house and members of the family sign a piece of paper, and along with a copy of the Port Perry Star they were all wrapped in plastic, Placed in a cardboard box and then dden in the attic of the old part of the house. In the old kitchen, workmen re- moved the original red pine floor boards (1 1/4" thick) from the building before the demolition. These have now been returned to the floor of the new kitchen, sand- ed down and will be stained. At one point in refurbishing the floor, they ran out of boards, so Karl cut the floor out of the livingroom and salvaged enough boards to finish the kitchen. The hole left in the livingroom was then patched, and covered with carpet. From the outside, the house will look much like the original home built back in 1865. The wide, large porch has been re- constructed, the building will be covered with a creamy-yellow sid- ing, very close to the original co- lour, and trimmed with white. The porch makes the building look massive, and although both Karl and Fran agree that it is a large house, they say the 3,000 sq. ft. home is only about 200 sq. ft. larger than the original house. "It is the large porch (60'x8' on the west side and 45'x8' on the south side) that makes the house look so large", Karl says. When completed, the porch will be decked out with gingerbread and a railing. The only idea incorporated into the house that is not original is the "widow's walk" on the roof. This addition was Karl's idea, having lived across from the Blair home near Seagrave at one time, he al- ways liked the look of the "widow's walk" and was deter- mined to have one if he built his own house. As the project advanced, both Karl and Fran said they became more and more excited as they learned about the history of the home. There is a picture of it in the Ontario County Atlas and is listed as being owned by Dr. R. he When Fran and Karl Herder started renovating thelr Queen Street home a couple of months ago, they never dreamed just how much work would be in- volved. The house was bulit about 125 years ago, and has undergone many changes, but when the Herders are finished it will once again take on the ap- pearance of when It was built around 1865. They are seen here standing In front of their home, which Is commonly known as the "Bentley House." Jones in 1877. This information was confirmed when they found an envelope in an old chimney ad- dressed to Mrs. Lucinda Jones, c/o Dr. R. Jones, dated 1884. There have been many owners of the home over the years, but most remember it as the "Bentley Home", having been the home of Mrs. Hazel Dehl Bentley and her husband L.R. Bentley, from about 1922 to 1972. Mr. Bentley owned and operated a jewellery store in sikkens Cetol 1 and Cetol 23 sikkern® Port Perry for many years. The most recent owners of the house were Mr. and Mrs. Irving Gibson, who owned the home for about 15 years before selling it to the Herders. If anyone has any information or photos of the house in their pos- session, Karl and Fran would love to learn more about it. "Any in- formation would be welcomed," Fran says. we A So the natural beauty of your exterior woodwork -- doesn't fade in the sunlight -- isn't damaged by moisture -- isn't hidden CENTRAL Ball PAINT & WALLPAPER 295 Ritson Rd. S., OSHAWA 434-3939 PU OW = TT AI VU an 1 me Sat? ors 2 ---- This photo of the Herder home, located at the corner of Queen and Bigelow Street shows how It looked over a century ago. It Is not known who the people standing on.the porch are, but the picture does show very clearly the architec- ture which once graced the house. When Fran and Karl Herder finish their pro- ject the house will once again look much like it does in this photo. WR Ss RR i pe