As we had settled on building a pretty big home (4,400.00 Sq.Ft. plus basement) we needed a relatively big site. The price of such a lot in the city was well out of our price range, so we had to search further afield.
Finally we closed on a property in Mt.Albert, part of the East Gwillimbury municipality, 1Hr. North of the city. It was 5 acres, with a rough winding driveway going through the trees to a clearing behind. We paid $33,000. cash for the land and secured a $100,000 construction loan at 2% above prime. At that time prime was just below 10% and floating.
We hired an architect Ron Mauti. Although we had plans, we felt being first time builders we needed the comfort of technical supervision. Expensive error. I should have resisted the changes he recommended, such as increasing the height of the tower, improving some of the lines. It made for a very impressive result, but all where expensive changes. Unfortunately I went with the flow.
You can just see the bucket of the back hoe we brought for $5000. to the right of the picture.
Both these units earned their cost many times over on snow clearance.
Our beautiful addition to the family, "Moondog" can be seen scampering by the rear of the truck. Every load she would jump up into the cab, for the drive down between the trees where we were building up the driveway with the fill.
Here I am laying blocks for the front tower section. Behind me is the cement mixer and transit tripod for leveling.
You can also see straw around, which was used to cover the blocks that where started last Fall, to avoid frost damage.
Meantime back in the city, Gary was doing a great job, running the landscaping, when I was away building. Over the years, it was mumbled "I hired 'em, Gary fired 'em"
We went through a series of tenants, for our apartments. Some good and others not so good. One couple did a runner, leaving an awful mess as well as unpaid rent.
A lady from Trinidad rented the upstairs apartment, about this time. One day her niece, Rihana was visiting, so Gary peeked out to get a look at her. I quoted his assessment in my speech at his wedding 12 years later when he said "I have got to get to know her"
Last Fall we ran into trouble with one of the Birchmount basement walls seeping in water. We had to excavate down to the footings, on the driveway side and parge the wall with cement, then bitumen. Something of an inconvenience loosing access to our garage for awhile, but successfully dealt with.
In the West End our Domglas account underwent a major up grade of their property. They have large areas of slopes and drains which where all regraded and required sodding and seeding. Rihana;s two brothers Kurt and Max helped us on this project, as their entry into the job market,
We rushed her up to the vet on Victoria Park and fortunately she made a full recovery.
This was followed in the next few years, up at Mt.Albert, with an encounter with a porcupine and later a skunk. The first required a vet to remove the quills and the second a bath in tomatoe juice.
The building moved along at a slow pace. I would borrow a guy from the landscape crew to help me, and later Max spent quite a lot of time helping.
Anne was over, when she could swing it and proved herself to be very capable at heaving the lumber around. We used the back hoe bucket to heave the steel girders into place for the basement and the garage.
All the lumber came from Ziner Lumber, the owners of which where one of five residential accounts we maintained in the Bridle Path. This is an area of estate homes, housing the "new" rich in contemporary style homes, as against the Forest Hill area of "Old" money and Turn of the Century homes. Peter Silverman being a classic example of the "Old" money.
We held no prejudice, new or old money, we welcomed it all.
2" by 6" studs, which are then sheathed with plywood.
We would assemble a few of the 2 by 4 sections horizontally( laid flat) and periodically Gary would bring up a couple of extra guys to help lift them up into position and brace them. The balcony is cantilevered with 2" by 10" joists.
Anne introduced me to another Englishman with Canadian aspirations, Phil Clark. I met Phil on one of my trips home to visit Mum and Dad and he agreed to come over for a "working vacation" (with the emphasis on the former.) While differing in social preferences, we had several other things in common. We where both work horses, trained in Horticulture, open minded, schooled at Warmington primary and on a more macabre note, both indicated a desire to R.I.P. when the time comes, at Warmington Cemetery.
Phil first came over in 1977 and stayed for 6 months. He moved into the basement at Birchmount with Hardy
but I would do all the cooking. For maximum performances, an engine has to receive optimum fuel. Like his English predecessor, he made a valuable contribution, so was persuaded to return again in 1978 for 4 months.
You can just see the 2 steel beams over the garage, to the right of the picture.
We managed to find time for some traveling during this period. One year it was Acapulco Mexico, another Calafornia, flying into L.A. then driving up the coast to San Fransisco.
Gary did Trinidad a few times, with his Trinidadian wife, while I took in Bermuda, the Bahamas we did together and of course Florida.
Contractors where brought in for the eaves troughs and roof shingles.
We had a very wet period when we where ready for shingling and the water pouring between the plywood sheets was a big concern.
To shingle myself would take too long and not be completed by the ensuing Winter. It was such a relief, to finally have it weatherproof.
Then began the time consuming task of installing the stone. The 4" Kingston ledge rock, is built up from the concrete block foundation walls and tied in with galvanized wall ties, nailed every 18" to the inner wall.
I cut every stone rectangular, with a straight front, to give a neat appearance. The tower was quite a challenge, cutting the angles and keeping the vertical lines accurate.
Up to this point I had completed most of the work myself, but as we began to deal with the interior, contractors where required, for specific trades. Now our costs would escalate as we brought in a plumbing contractor, heating, insulation, kitchen, central vacuum and intercom, drywall. We took care of interior wood trim, carpeting and painting. But our funding ran out.
If anyone remembers the financial picture in N.America, late 70s and into early 80s. interest rates sky rocketed up to 20% which is unbelievable compared to today's rates. Now we have a huge monkey on our backs, but the house is still not quite finished.
The landscaping and snow service was ticking along, but not generating sufficient to carry this burden for too long.
On May 9th 1979 we took a lunch break at Birchmount, from mowing at Steelecase. I was devastated when I played the message on the answering machine. My Sister had phoned to say Dad had died. I booked a flight for that evening and we returned to finish mowing Steelecase. As I sat on the mower, tears where streaming down my face.
My last few trips back to Oundle, I felt Dad and I where really getting very close. When I left a few months earlier, he had run down to the gate by the road, to wave goodbye, which was the only time he had done that.