Reid Media Agency
47 Pine St. S., Port Hope, Ont.
Asking Price: $3.75-million
Taxes: $21,486.34 (2024)
Lot Size: 4.5 acres
Agents: Dee McGee, Royal LePage ProAlliance Realty
The backstory
In Port Hope, Ont., a circa-1851 brick house sits on more than four acres of land in the centre of the historic town.
A stream runs through the property and, for many years, an owl could be heard hooting from deep inside the woods, says current owner Allison Doyle.
The two-storey house was built for business magnate Henry Howard Meredith, who moved to Canada from Ireland in 1829.
According to Heritage Port Hope, which designated 47 Pine St. S. under heritage conservation rules in 1986, the architect and builder was William Garnett, who worked on many of the town’s early buildings.
In 1869, the president of a local railroad company, Henry Covert, purchased the home and made some significant improvements, such as adding the Italianate gabled wing, the heritage board says.
In 1901, George Ralston took over. Under his tenure, the house was modified with bay windows, a new south main entrance and columned verandas. The Ralston name would become well-known in Port Hope after he served as a brigadier-general in the First World War. The house remained in the family until 1985, according to local records.
Later the house opened as a bed and breakfast inn under the name Hill and Dale.
Ms. Doyle and her husband were digital entrepreneurs who purchased the property in 2013 when they moved from Toronto to Port Hope so their son and daughter could attend the private Trinity College School.
As the family settled in, Ms. Doyle began meeting local residents who shared their memories of passing significant milestones at the Hill and Dale.
Many couples used the elegant gates bordering John Street as the backdrop for their wedding photos, she learned. Another bride and her attendants held an afternoon tea on the veranda during their stay before the nuptials.
Others pointed out the room they chose for the first night of their honeymoon.
“Some of my friends had their wedding nights in my home.”
The house today
When she first toured the property, Ms. Doyle wondered if returning an inn with nine bedrooms and 10 bathrooms to a single family home would be too great a challenge.
“I was a little bit intimidated,” she says.
But the couple visited a few times before they submitted an offer and decided to tackle the renovation.
As a B&B, the home was well cared-for, says Ms. Doyle, but the traditional décor, ornate draperies and a different motif in each room did not suit the family’s lifestyle.
“We saw the bones of the house for what it was – a beautiful stately home,” says Ms. Doyle.
One of the first tasks was to repaint the exterior, which is protected by heritage conservation rules. The couple chose historically accurate colours for elements such as the wooden shutters, doors, veranda and trim.
The couple then revamped the main floor. At the front of the house, they removed one ensuite bathroom and stripped away the bedroom decor to create a home office.
At the rear, they tore out a second bathroom and the owners’ suite in order to turn the space into a family room. They also enclosed a former porch to create a mud room.
Today the house has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
The ceilings in the principal rooms are more than 10 feet high, with some of the Victorian-era trim remaining, according to Heritage Port Hope. In other rooms, trim and moulding appears to date to the Edwardian era.
The ceilings in the principal rooms are more than 10 feet high, with some of the Victorian-era trim remaining, according to Heritage Port Hope.Reid Media Agency
The late Victorian detail includes the winding cherry wood staircase.
Some of the Edwardian-era improvements included panelled wainscotting in the dining room and new mantelpieces for some of the fireplaces.
Upstairs, the couple renovated one bathroom and combined two bedrooms to create a spacious primary suite.
Other bathrooms were given a facelift with new vanities and decor. Wallpapers were stripped from the bedrooms and hallways to create a more uniform palette throughout the house.
Some areas of the floors were showing wear and tear, Ms. Doyle says, so the couple installed faux marble tile in the front hall, for example.
In 2015, the couple undertook a kitchen renovation. Ms. Doyle’s aim was to create a kitchen with all of the modern conveniences she needed and an appearance in keeping with the age of the home.
The cabinets are finished with a creamy, yellow undertone.
“It sort of feels like it belongs here.”
Ms. Doyle says the heritage home has one element she considers magical: When the sun rises in the morning, it shines through the stained glass in the south-east corner.
“It creates rainbows throughout the entire house,” she says.
Being the current steward of the property has led to some interesting encounters.
One day some visitors from out-of-province stopped by. The descendants of Brig.-Gen. Ralston had lived in the house during the 1970s and 80s and were keen to see the changes since that time. Ms. Doyle invited them in for a tour.
Ms. Doyle has spent the past several years in her own home office overlooking the grounds writing her recently published novel, A Creature Unlike Any Other. The “biography wrapped up in a fiction story” is centred around the life of the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and written under the pen name Allison Lang Cook.
Many celebrated authors have made the area home, Ms. Doyle points out, and she finds the town’s cultural roots inspiring.
“Port Hope is a creative community.”
The best feature
The previous owners brought in a local artisan who used traditional methods to create features in the garden.Reid Media Agency
The more than four acres of land includes woods, trails, lawns and gardens.
“It’s such a serene, quiet, lovely property,” says Ms. Doyle.
Some of the rare specimens on the property include a “cucumber tree” magnolia, which is the only magnolia native to Canada, and a walnut tree estimated to be more than 150 years old.
An aged stone wall lining the driveway has an ice hut built in. Ms. Doyle figures residents in previous eras used the nook to store their perishables on blocks of ice.
The previous owners also brought in a local artisan who used traditional methods to create features in the garden, including an arched stone bridge over the stream.
When the children and their cousins were young, Ms. Doyle set up Easter egg hunts on the grounds.
The kids also spent lots of time exploring the woods and running all over the property with the family dog.
“It feels like such a good place to raise a family.”