The Livingstone/Stephens House
“Window Seat” (above) and the “Yellow Door” are both from a derelict farm house near Bracebridge that was originally owned by a Scottish immigrant and carpenter, Neil Livingstone.
Looking at the architectural detail on the house, I was not surprised to discover Mr. Livingstone was a carpenter. There are very few rural homes in this area with such great attention to detail, a curved staircase with a complicated arched ceiling and stunning hardwood that is rock solid even after nearly 15 years exposed to the elements. Most farmhouses in this region were very basic and without much detail. Farming in Muskoka was often an impossible business due to the rocky terrain, so few would have had the wealth to build a brick house with so much elegant carpentry.
(The following is a chapter excerpt from the upcoming “Echoes” – a book of images and stories of some of Muskoka’s pioneer people and their buildings)
…The brightly painted doors on the second floor were quite intriguing. There were at least three layers of paint with the last layer being a bright yellow. The layers of wallpaper had begun to peel revealing a gold, a peachy colour and gray decorative themes. The white trim had once been stained dark and the peeling paint further revealed the many moods of the home’s occupants over the years.
I found myself convinced that there was some little secret thing – a book
or a box – hidden in this house that might have a story in it. At the time,
I had no knowledge of the history of the property. So instead, I started to
imagine the life of a young woman who might have once lived there in the early
1900’s. I can imagine a box of letters… A box that sat in a room just beyond
the door… There may have been no box in the house for me to find, but the story
I discovered helped me to realize that this once the home of a very prominent
and interesting early citizen of Muskoka.
[...]
Farming in Muskoka was often an impossible business due to the rocky terrain,
so few would have had the wealth to build a brick house with so much elegant
carpentry. It turns out, the house was built on a farm settled by Scottish
carpenter, Neil Livingstone who immigrated to Canada in 1861. Mr. Livingstone
went on to become a successful contractor in the Bracebridge area, completing
the first Registry Office in 1877 and the original Town Hall in 1881. Only
the tower remains of the original Town Hall today. The last remaining evidence
of Mr. Livingstone’s legacy to Muskoka is that tower, a semi-derelict Dominion
Hotel (only the main floor is in use) and the ruin of a once elegant farmhouse.
In a recent interview with 90 year old Elva (Stephens) Bowes, I learned that
there was much more to Mr. Livingstone’s story.
In 1877, Neil Livingstone found a nugget of gold in a well in Gravenhurst,
setting off an intense, albeit brief, gold rush in the area. It made him an
instantly wealthy man and he purchased the farm near Bracebridge. Elva said
the story goes that he was engaged to be married, but, the wedding was not
to be. It turns out that the lady would not have him because of his penchant
for the drink. It is likely that his disappointment drove him further into
his vice. His love of visiting the bar at the Dominion Hotel in Bracebridge
created debts that he ended up paying with his farm. In 1903, two years before
Neil Livingstone died, he transferred the farm and the farmhouse he built in
1891 to Peter Milne, the owner of the Dominion Hotel. The property was handed
over in trust so that Mr. Livingstone would be taken care of in his old age
and given a proper burial after his debts were settled.
In early 1905 at the age of 84, Neil Livingstone died of pneumonia. Milne sold
the farm and the hotel and took his family to Alberta. The farm was sold to
Richard Stephens, Elva’s father. Elva was unable to recall the reason her father
had a connection with the Hotel man. Her father never touched liquor.
I have yet to find the resting place of Neil Livingstone.
The Book will be released in 2011.