The Rural Voice, 1989-10, Page 38GOING HOME AGAIN
A retired farmer builds a 1930s farm — one that will fit in his pickup truck,
Walter Ellis is into farming in
a small way.
His homestead may lack the pro-
portions of many of today's farms, but
the Komoka-area man still presides
over it with the pride of a new father
at a nursery window.
His antique steam engine powers
a grain separator inside the barn, while
outside a team of horses pulls a hoist
loaded with sheaves of freshly cut
hay. Nearby, a family of ducks floats
down a gurgling creek and livestock
graze quietly in the sunshine. Behind
the house, laundry is done in an old
wringer washer and hung on the line
to dry.
All in a space measuring just four
feet by eight feet.
The miniature replica of a 1930s
rural homestead is the creation of the
78 -year-old Ellis, who found time on
his hands when he gave up farming
about 10 years ago.
The Farmstead, as he has chris-
tened it, will soon complete another
36 THE RURAL VOICE
by Anne Kelly
season of showings at agricultural
fairs and antique machinery displays.
Always a popular attraction, the
model was out to Manitoba for a farm
machinery exposition this summer and
has travelled to Portland, Indiana five
times for the world's largest engine
show held there annually.
"I guess I don't sleep well
and I dream a lot. And
usually what I start works
out for some silly reason."
Encased in plexiglass with a
removable top, it slides easily back
into Ellis' pickup truck at the end of
each engagement, ready for the next.
It will be on the road well into
October, says its creator.
"We're just going steady all the
time," Ellis says. In all, he figures
The Farmstead has travelled close to
12,000 miles.
Its seven buildings include an
elaborate two-storey farmhouse,
several barns, a double -sided corn
crib, and a hen house. There's also a
water tower, a covered bridge, and a
windmill that pumps water. A total of
nine tiny motors add the motion which
seems to bring the farm to life. The
windmill turns, the workhorses plod
along, the back -yard fountain shoots
water, and the machinery whirs as if
eager for harvest.
Ellis says he has lost track of
the number of pieces that make up
the model. Since he created it in just
three months back in 1983, he has
gradually added more tiny figures,
animals, trees, machinery, and just
about anything else a 1930s farm
would have. There's even a miniature
croquet set in the back yard. Last
winter, he spent another three months
tearing the replica apart and enlarging
it to its present size.
The house and barn were hand-
crafted by Ellis from British Columbia