They are neat and simple, and generally small in size. These little houses are dotted all over Simcoe County, predominantly centred around their builder’s home turf, Craighurst and the surrounding communities.
Once you have seen one or two, you can’t stop seeing them. They are everywhere. Until very recently, I was completely unaware of these structures and the man who built them, the prolific nineteenth century housebuilder, Aaron Caston.
I have Paul Marshall to thank for my new found knowledge. Paul has a deep love for our local history and is involved in numerous projects promoting the fascinating stories of our shared past.
This is nothing new. Paul Marshall, even as a boy playing in the woods of east end Barrie, or riding his bike along the muddy trails of what was once the village of Kempenfelt, he was thinking about what went on in these parts long, long ago.
This story involves the particular interest that Paul has developed about the hidden in plain sight Caston homes of Simcoe County. That fascination also started early on in his life.
The Coutts name will be well known to many readers. Indeed, I worked for Walter Coutts, Paul’s cousin, at his print shop on Bayview Drive many years ago. Paul’s grandmother, Nellie Coutts, was a descendant of Scottish immigrants from Aberdeenshire who had settled in Midhurst.
Nellie Coutts married Clifford Ferguson. His people came to Simcoe County from Wellington County but were originally from the island of Islay off the west coast of Scotland. About 1911, Nellie and Clifford moved to Saskatchewan and raised a family there. Of their children, only their daughter, Lillian Jean Ferguson, migrated back to the family roots in Simcoe County.
Meanwhile, young Keith Marshall was growing up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. Before Keith finished school, the Marshall family moved to Toronto and settled into a house on Runnymede Road. When Keith was 4 months past his 15th birthday, he decided to enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Force as they prepared to head to the battlefields of France.
As was often the case, dreams of patriotism and adventure were dashed by the horrors of war in a faraway place. Keith Marshall was shot in the left eye at Ypres in May 1916. His sight was saved, but his nerves were shattered. The underage soldier was sent home to Canada.
By the 1930s, Keith Marshall had relocated to Barrie. He had received a medical pension after his war service and this bit of money, combined with what he earned by working, allowed him to find a little chunk of land and build a small cabin on St. Vincent Street where it now meets Orchard Drive.
Keith’s sister, Edna (Marshall) Smith, lived on nearby Duckworth Street as did Lillian Ferguson’s aunt, Daisy (Coutts) Carruthers. This is how a boy from northern Ontario met a girl from Saskatchewan.
The couple wed in Toronto in 1938. The Barrie Examiner of Sept. 15, 1938, made mention of the intended home of the newlyweds, which would become the first simple wood-sided house in their son’s early recollections. It is very possible that warm memories of this small but cozy place inspired a lifelong interest in similarly built homes.
“After a short honeymoon, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall will be at home to their friends at “The Cabin”, St. Vincent Street, Barrie.”
Around 1971, the old plank home on the Coutts homestead on Lot 20 of the Second Concession of Vespra Township, southeast of Midhurst, was dismantled. This simple home, built by Aaron Caston for Paul’s great great grandfather, Duncan Coutts, ended its days at that time, but it sparked in Paul a long-standing fascination with the builder and his style.
Last week, Paul Marshall graciously offered to take my Barrie Historical Archive colleague, Deb Exel, and I on a guided tour of his old haunts, the east end of Barrie and the back roads of old Oro, Vespra and Flos townships.
On a very rainy day, Paul identified numerous Caston homes for us. Some of them are documented, others are maybes and several are just plain gone. Ride along with us here next week for the second part of this story.
Each week, the Barrie Historical Archive provides BarrieToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past. This unique column features photos and stories from years gone by and is sure to appeal to the historian in each of us.
