The Big White House

I had always admired the tall white house in the center of Huttonville whenever we had passed by. When it came up for sale in 1996, we decided to take a look at the property, even thought it was a bit out of our price range.

We went to see the house on a Saturday morning and found that it to be as charming inside as it was on the outside. It was a beautiful day in late spring and I clearly remember taking off my sandals when I stepped off the back porch because the grass was still wet with morning dew. I walked slowly down the property taking it all in. The deep, relatively even lot was bordered by long perennial beds that were shaded by towering maples and a massive black walnut tree. At the back of the yard, there were a large circular bed planted with culinary herbs. It was love at first sight.

Now, you know what they say: love is blind. I looked right at the house’s quirky character flaws that day and dismissed them all as things that could be easily changed. When the house inspection revealed even deeper, more distressing character traits: the roof was shot, the front porch had wood rot, the windows all needed to be replaced and there were clear signs of water issues in the basement. I dismissed them all with a lover’s enthusiastic optimism as things that could be overcome with a little bit of hard work.

A view of the steel bridge that originally crossed the Credit River at the intersection of Mississauga Road and Embleton Road. Our house can be seen in the distance.

This is a picture of Huttonville taken in the early part of the last century. Our house can be seen on the left.

Photo Credits: Thanks to the book "From the Wolf's Den to Huttonville and the Pioneers Who Made It Possible" published in 1996 by the Huttonville Book Committee. Publisher: Ampersand Printing.