A dead crow on the floor greeted Su Murdoch when she first peered through broken windows at the vacant home in east end Barrie.
Fortunately, for Murdoch, the deceased bird happened to be laying in front of a massive fireplace in an exquisite 25 x 25 square parlour with sweeping 12 foot ceilings.
It was love at first sight for Murdoch who is a heritage consultant with an expert eye for century homes.
"It's picturesque and you could recognize right away it was authentic," Murdoch said. "It hadn't been that altered that you couldn't recognize what it was."
Murdoch and her husband bought the vacant home in 1981 and she soon uncovered the secrets of its fascinating history.
The Regency style house, which is rare for Barrie, was built in 1849 for the headmaster of the local grammar school and perched on a hill, the home had a soothing view of Lake Simcoe.
The school was established to educate the "sons of gentlemen" and students were a who's who of the past.
"Its history from being a grammar school is the gentleman-educated were people like Sir William Osler, who was the founder of John Hopkins Medical Centre and is often described as the "Father of Modern Medicine," Murdoch explained.
The house was later owned by the county sheriff, Benjamin Walker Smith, who left behind several unique artifacts, including leather restraints in the barn and a square top lamp stand inset with a checkerboard assortment of small Italian marble squares.
Among Smith’s many achievements was a daring rescue on Georgian Bay, July 1, 1859, when he saved the lives of Canada’s soon-to-be prime minister, John A. Macdonald and other future members of Cabinet.
If only the walls could talk and they actually do tell a story to Murdoch - but she had another great source of history.
Smith’s grandson lived next door when Murdoch and her husband moved in to the home.
The grandson had grown up in the former headmaster's home before moving out in 1971 and was able to help Murdoch trace its original layout.
"So if there was a door missing, he'd say well the door is over there, and we moved it back in place," Murdoch said. "It was a great opportunity for restoration because so much of it was here. Even the original door locks are here and hardware usually gets thrown out."
The grammar school was erected to the west of the headmaster's home and it eventually became the collegiate.
The original part of school was modest but a gracious structure, pictured in historic photos, was eventually built next to it.
That building burned down and moved to the site which is currently Barrie Central Collegiate, ironically now slated to close.
The builder of Murdoch's home was John Pearson, an english trained craftsman who worked on the Barrie jail when it was being built in 1842 and whose own house is still on Mary Street.
"It's solidly built with timber frame. The windows are seven feet. The way it's designed every window has a vista - you can see the lake or see the backyard or down the driveway," Murdoch said. "We tried to do things like there's no electrical switches visible in certain rooms. We've kept the driveway just gravelled so you have a sense of driving up a country lane when you come in."
The fireplaces had to be rebuilt to modern standards and a basement immediately installed.
The adjoining barn burned down in 1915 due to a fire accidentally lit by the sheriff's grandson when he was a child.
The house and shed survived but left charring in the rafters and soot in the ceilings, a little sample of which Murdoch has protected in a foyer outside her daughter's old bedroom.
Su and her husband raised two daughters in the home while it was lovingly restored to its architectural glory.
The previous owner had divided the house into two sections to create a small apartment for his mother so the home had to be returned to its original layout.
Over the years, Murdoch bought several family treasures from the sheriff's grandson next door, including a parlour couch she still lounges on today.
Murdoch ordered custom vintage wallpaper to reflect the original character and complete the historic finishes.
"It's not a fine elegant house. Regency's never were," said Murdoch. "They're not full of barge board and deception. I like that kind of simplicity in a line."
Murdoch's latest project is to knock down and rebuild the collapsing back shed, which she has discovered was renovated over the years with recycled original materials.
Part of the shed is probably original to 1849 but some of it was rebuilt because of the barn fire in 1915.
"You have to look for clues and when you have enough clues and then you look at the physical evidence. This house, being timber framed, you know it has to be early in the history of Barrie," said Murdoch. "In my work you keep the artifact which is why we're just gently peeling the shed at the moment to make the determination on what is original, what we're going to try and keep."
Murdoch has mixed feelings about demolishing the historic shed because her goal is always restoration.
A new replacement shed will have a similar structure in order to preserve the historic integrity of her property.
The century house tucked behind trees up a hill now holds Murdoch's history in the many memories of its restoration and Murdoch's family life, then and now.
"There were lots of challenges but architecturally, this is a really rewarding house. It's lovely to live in and its quiet."
