Hillcrest Cottage, 1938 and 1942

Horse by Hillcrest Cottage, Morpeth, Ontario 1938

Hillcrest Cottage is a house I spent a lot of time visiting in the 1980s when I was a child. It is where my great aunt lived alone for many years after her mother’s death in the 1970s, where she was born and raised since 1916. Where my great grandparents took up residence in 1909 when they got married. The house still stands today in Morpeth, Ontario, though it has been sold and completely renovated.

It is interesting to see what a rough-looking cottage it was in 1938, above, in the depths of the Great Depression. I wonder what the person who took the photo thought of this horse, and whose car was parked by the house?

Next, here is a photo of the home again in 1942. That is the year my grandfather got married and left home. I can’t believe how rough it looks, almost uninhabited looking. Later than this, a basement and front porch were added to the house.

In the background, you can see the barn that was built in 1921 and burned down in the 1980s. I still remember when that barn burned down. I was a young girl at the time, and was wearing a yellow flower girl dress that we used to use as a dress up costume. I remember my parents seeing the glow of the fire, and dad thinking it was his combine up in flames. He had abandoned the combine on my grandparents’ driveway earlier, I guess due to a mechanical problem. But we found out it was the barn. We all ran partway down our laneway where we could safely watch the blaze. I remember the glowing structure of the barn, its skeleton black against the flames engulfing it. I am looking forward to telling the story of that barn, which I may not share on this blog because I’m looking for a novel hidden within its story.

1942: Hillcrest Cottage

I have painted two versions of a painting featuring this house and its history, and I blogged about it back in 2011 on my art website here. and again the night before my first art exhibit.