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PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 1, 1998.
vcct s
Morris couple's dream keeps buildin
Dream home
Building a home to last hasn't been a quick project, but
for the Hill family it has been one in which they have
invested heart and soul. From floorboards to ceiling Don,
Marleen and their children, Bradley and Heather are
creating their dream. Don even made the stained glass
door.
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
For the Hill family the dream is
still alive, but it is much closer to
reality than when it began.
Since they first met each other in
1984, Don and Marleen Hill have
been creating their dream home on
Conc. 7/8 of Morris Twp. Don
purchased the property, on which
stood an abandoned house in the
spring of that year. Shortly after
meeting Marleen in the fall he
shared his vision with her. Standing
looking at the ramshackle structure
she didn't at first see what Don had.
"I couldn't believe he had bought
this place," she laughs.
City-born and raised Don brought
a desire to live in the country and
tremendous talent to the project of
creating not just a family home, but
an impressive one at that.
In 1986 they stripped the interior
and decided on cedar shake for the
roof. "We wanted something we
wouldn't have to replace," says
Don. "If it's put on right, in theory it
should last not just our lifetime but
hundreds of years."
If there is a worry about cedar it
is its absorbency, so to address that
fact, the Hills put a layer of tar
paper over the original roof,
followed by two -inch strapping
over the rafters, then lx4s. "This
allows air through so it dries from
the top and the bottom. Otherwise,
incorporation of some interesting
concepts. Along the roof are
elaborately designed copper valleys
which serve as breakwalls for water.
Copper was chosen because it is
easy to work with Don said and will
last the duration of the cedar.
The roof, like the house, is also
coated with a mixture of half raw
linseed oil, half turpentine and a bit
of beeswax, which is, according to
Don, an old Scandinavian wood
treatment.
Don, who is employed as a
mechanic at Radford's in Blyth,
then took a year off to build a 4,500
square foot home for his parents in
Grand Bend.
In 1990 he and Marleen, now
married, went back to work on their
home, tearing down the back
portion, which was "junk. There
wasn't even much I could save out
of it," says Don.
The house was then jacked up
because one side had settled four
inches, and the foundation was
removed. "We had a scare at this
point because there had been a
warning that we were going to have
strong winds as the effects of a
tropical storm blew through," says
Don.
"The building inspector even
came out the next morning to see if
it was still standing," says Marleen.
About this time, he noticed that
the roof on the former Clegg's
schoolhouse, Conc. 5 in Morris, was
in bad shape. He approached its
owner who was only too happy to
have someone interested in
removing it. Its brick lives on in the
basement, fireplace and chimneys
of the Hill home, while the stones
from its foundation were used in
their foundation.
Having dug out several feet of —
clay from the basement, Don then
set to work constructing the new
foundation. He came up with an
idea of using stone and concrete that
finished is like a work of art
because of its symmetry and
precision.
It's also sturdy."I've heard people
say that stone foundations could not
last today because of the heaviness
of our appliances. These walls are
20 inches thick," says Don. '
When the work, which took part
of a fall and two summers, was
completed Don moved a log cabin
the had taken down from another
property, then stored in his barn,
onto the foundation. The wood was
first cleaned with wire brushes and
a grinder, then oiled.
The main house's exterior was
done to copy the original board and
batten home. Boards were planed
once to smooth.
Then the interior work began.
Rooms were insulated for
soundproofing and insulation was
foamed into the exterior walls and
roof.
Don framed the windows, but had
a Mennonite man from Millbank do
the sashes and grills. For the 45
windows and doors, Don felt the
price, $14,000 was "pretty good."
Marleen had made a condition
that she would not move in until the
drywall was done. That day arrived
in January 1995.
Since then, Don keeps forging
ahead to see the dream realized.
The family, which now includes
children, Bradley and Heather,
prepare meals and dine in a
makeshift, though efficient
basement kitchen. The roomy log
cabin portion , currently serving as
a workshop will be the new kitchen.
Having lost the barn and the
materials stored in it to fire Don is
building a new barn for storage and
as a workshop. He plans to build
all the trim and make the
floorboards. However, if anyone has
an old house they liked torn down,
Don says he'd be glad to hear from
them. He is also looking for
porcelain doorknobs and old
passage sets which he would be
willing to purchase.
Doing most of the work alone,
though his brother-in-law Richard
Horst, did help with the brickwork,
and in his spare time doesn't make
for speedy results, however. It is,
and will be for awhile yet, a work in
progress.
But one you can see already will
be clearly worth the wait.
cedar soaks in water so it rots from
the bottom."
The idea that this was going to be
their home for life and Don's
concern for detail have meant the