Thorold’s most famous boat house is looking for a new captain.
The Chapel Street South home, built as a tribute to the SS Keewatin, has hit the real estate market.
“It was just time to move on,” says David Smith, who is the son of the late owner of the house. “We put it on the market. It’s a different property and it’s very unique. We get a lot of compliments on it.”
Smith’s father Barrett had a life-long obsession with the SS Keewatin.
“My father was from the Midland, Port McNicoll area,” explains Smith. “It was the Keewatin he worked on as a boy and he always had a love for shipping and the canal.”
In the early 1990s, Barrett moved his family from Toronto to Thorold.
“They bought this house overlooking Lock 7,” says Smith. “The front of the house is the main house. From there, my brother put a plan together to build an addition on the back of the house that looked like the wheelhouse of the Keewatin.”
The back of the Chapel Street home is made to resemble the bow of a ship, with a helm, alarm bell, and porthole windows on the sides.
“When you stand at the edge of the property with Lock 7 behind you, looking back at the house under certain weather conditions, it’s really impressive,” Smith says. “It looks like a ship coming right at you.”
And if you turn around, you can watch the real ships roll by.
“Views like that don’t come up every day," Smith says.
He hopes to find a buyer who can appreciate the unique features of the property.
“We would definitely love it if it was someone who kept it or enhanced it,” Smith says. “That’s the type of person we would love to see, but you can’t control who is going to buy it.”
Smith thinks the house could also double as a business opportunity.
“The way it’s set up, it’s two units,” he says. “You can understand how somebody might want to turn it into a bed and breakfast or something like that.”
While it’s time to move on, Smith will be saying goodbye with a heavy heart.
“What would soften the blow is if somebody maintained the spirit of it,” he says. “That’s the type of person we’d love to see, who wants to stay involved with the canal. My father used to sit up at the lock there and I used to call him the unofficial Welland Canal tour guide.”
To check out more pictures of the house, go to the real estate agent's website.
