The Huron Expositor, 1990-07-18, Page 3AT HOME IN HERITAGE HOUSE - Cathy Pletsch sits on the
stairs in her front hallway. The staircase is made of black ash and
the window is stained glass. Oxford photo.
IN EARLIER YEARS - Before a store was added to the front of
the Pletsch house about 30 years ago, there was a verandah and
maybe it will be replaced oneday. Oxford photo.
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JULY 18. 1990
3
Seaforth to preserve more beauty and history
BY SUSAN OXFORD
For the first time Seaforth Local
Architectural Conservation Ad-
visory Commute (LACAC) is
about to designate a house a
Henuige Property for the beauty of
us interior rather than its Cxtenot.
The house at 19 Spa►rlung Street has
been owned by Donald and Kathy
Pletsch since 1970 and is their fin
house.
The property at 19 Sperling Street
was first owned by F.G.Spading in
1895 and was sold to William Gray
for one dollar. In Wan he sold the
property to !store Fear who began
conatrucuon of the present house in
1899. When construction began the
Huron Expositor reported that "11 is
to be the finest house in Seaforth
and on one of the finest lots."
The house was built in a late -
Victorian style and the exterior was
as beautiful as the interior. It is
made of red back and has ornamen-
tal gables of heavily carved wood
brackets and trim. The windows
have curved cast -stone heads above
them and are a unique design for
this area, as are the curved stained
glass window heads at the living
room and upper hall. A keyhole
window is featured in the opening
to the front porch.
The interior of the house is
beautiful with stained glass and
well -made wood stairs and trims.
Of particular interest is the front
hall and trim of black ash stairs,
wainscotting and trim. The stairs
have detailed woodwork, are fully
panelled with twisted spindles. All
the doors and windows in the front
hall have ornamental surrounds. An
arch containing sliding doors with
etched and hand painted floral
motifs separates the living room
from the front hall. The arch itself
is exceptionally lovely with a fan
motif in the corner blocks, carved
newels and spindle work that
creates a delicate touch.
A leaded cut -glass front door
welcomes people visiting the
Pletsch house. On the north side of
the stair are stained glass windows,
one of which may have been
created by the tradesman who
prepared stained glass for the local
Presbyterian church.
Isaac Fear was a druggist and
owned a drug store downtown. The
municipal telephone system was
operated from his store. Very few
other families have lived in the
house since and many local women
can remember having card parties
there whin it was owned by Mrs.
Annie Ferguson. Mrs. Pletsch
received a list of past occupants
from Isabelle Campbell, the
Seaforth historian who wrote many
books on Huron County history.
About 25 or 30 years ago the
exterior of the house was changed
when the front verandah was
removed and a rad brick addition
built as a s Wee . An electronics
business operated titan the location
for many years until the house was
sold to the Pletschs.
In 1970 Mr. and Mrs. Misch
were newlyweds in Thornbury, new
CoUungwood, and were looking for
a home to buy. Mr. Pletsch was an
electronic serviceman wanting to
work for himself and wanned space
for a business. The couple saw an
ad in Toronto for a house with a
store in Seaforth and came w look
at it. They thought the house was
beautiful and were very impressed
with the store which was equipped
with electronic equipment and
everything to start a business. A
service van was even thrown into
the deal. Mr. Pletsch ran a
television sales and service business
out of the store for 15 years. Today
the store is used for storage or
sometimes as a guest house.
Now Mr. Pletsch has opened a
travel agency business in Clinton
and is enjoying his new career.
Mrs. Pletsch is a teacher at Hullett
Central school. Both Pletsch
children were born and raised in the
house. Laura, 17, who says she
would like to be a teacher, has been
puuing in an English -style garden
on the property. Every year she
takes over more of the garden area
for her plantings and her mother
and friends encourage her. Steven,
15, says he would like to be a
stockbroker and make lots of
money. Both children go to
Seaforth high school.
The Pletschs have done some
work on the house themselves and
as they do they become closer to
the house's history. While the house
was being built some of the
contractors put their signatures into
the plaster or signed the paint and
the Pletschs have found and read
the signatures.
Since almost everything is still
original they've had to do very little
renovation work. The plaster is in
great condition and they've been
able to paint the walls. The plaster
moulding edging the living room
ceiling is the room's original moul-
ding and was found in the attic by
the Pletschs. A little of the wood-
work had been painted and Mrs.
Pletsch refinished
The awning and posts for the
front verandah were found in the
garage and Mrs. Pletsch would like
to see the store torn down and the
verandah re -erected.
"It hasn't been uncommon for
people to come to the door and say
'we hear your house is beautiful.
May we see it?," said Mrs. Pletsch.
"We thought about having our
house designated for a long time. If
we sold the house it would be so
easy to convert it into four
It's a labour of love in Brucefield
BY DAVID EMSLIE
BRUCEFIELD - Since giving up
farming last fall, Bob LeBeau has
worked full time on a job he just
loves, restoring old tractors.
Since beginning his restoration
work in 1972, he guesses he has
restored some 150 tractors. He
explained he got his start when, "I
wanted a tractor painted, and
decided to do it myself. It looked
so good, I just kept going.
"I did it part time, and farming.
Now, I've gotten so busy, I decided
not to farm. I enjoy this, too, I
really enjoy it."
Some of the tractors which he has
restored over the years include a
1962 Ford 801 Diesel, a '52 Case
V.A., Rumleys, Lance Bulldogs,
Field Marshalls, many Case tractors
and John Deeres.
"A lot when they come in here
don't even run; they're beyond it.
But when they leave here, they're
running," Mr,eBeau said proudly.
Recently, Mr. LeBeau and John
Stilson of Blyth finished restoring a
1927 Huber Super 4 tractor. They
spent 133 hours working on the
tractor for owner Richard Brown of
Fergus, Ontario.
When the beautiful old tractor,
now ready for showing, came to
Mr. LeBeau at his RR I Brucefield
residence, it was in rough shape.
The Huber wasn't running, and it
had been painted with a brush.
Nine hours of sandblasting helped
remove the paint, and the tractor
was also steam cleaned. Much
outside help was necessary to return
the tractor to its former splendor.
Mr. Lellc-au explained that Rad -
ford's Garage in I.o ndeshoro did
the head work, making the valve
guides and scats for the heads; Tim
Wilcox from Hensall did the let-
tering; Jeff DeJong of Brucefield
did some body work, and Henry
Gema of Vanasua made the hood.
Clinton Auto Pans supplied all of
ARCHWAY IN HERITAGE HOUSE - The horse of Donald and
Cathy Pletsch will be designated a Heritage Property because of
the beauty of its interior. Oxford photo.
apartments (there's possible plum-
bing on every floor) and we would
hate to see that happen."
"Tom Lemon (former Main Street
coordinator) suggested Heritage
Property designation to us a few
years ago," Mrs. Pletsch said. "Last
winter some of the LACAC mem-
bers viewed our house. We spoke
with Seaforth's deputy -clerk,
Michelle Hurad, about the rules
involved. An architect wrote a
description of the house and we
applied for designation."
The application has been made
and must go through a mandatory
period of time for appeal before
being finalized. One other house in
Ontario, Durham, has been desig-
nated because of its interior.
The Pletschs have no firm plans
for work on their house after it is
designated. With the interior pretty
much complete they plan to
preserve the building and keep it as
it is. Mrs. Pletsch is keen on the
idea of including her house on a
walkabout tour of local architecture.
"I belong to a women's group and
for three years we would open 10
Stratford homes to the public as
part of a one -day tour," said Mrs.
Pletsch. "We felt we should do it
and made a day of iL"
"Seaforth should be doing more
to teach Seaforth heritage. They
could ask people to open their
house for an annual tour and the
houses don't have to necessarily be
designated. They could just be very
beautiful or unique. Elora does an
annual tour like this."
"The tour could include the Van
Egmond House. There's so much
history in Seaforth. For example, an
artist, William Cresswell, lived in
the house at Martene Orchards.
School children could take part on
the walks and learn the history of
the town."
MANY HOURS OF TENDER LOVING CARE - Bob LeBeau (left) of R.R. 1, Brucefield and John Stilson
of Blyth recently completed restoration work on this 1927 Huber Super 4 tractor. The pair spent 133
hours restoring the tractor for Richard Brown of Fergus. Since 1972, Mr. LeBeau has restored about 150
tractors. David Emslie photo.
the paint.
Mr. LeBeau stated that they were
aIle to return the tractor to its
original color after the owner went
to a museum in the United States
that displays Hubers, and got the
color code there.
Seven coats of primer and nine
coats of paint went onto the tractor.
There was also some heavy work
involved. The wheels had to be
removed for painting. and Mr.
LeBeau commented. "Those wheels
weighed 900 pounds apiece; the
back ones."
With the Huber restoration out of
the way, Mr. LeBeau will still have
plenty of work to keep him busy.
"I have 22 or 21 (tractors) ahead
of me to restore," he said. And this
popularity as a man who can restore
a tractor all came about without the
use of advertising. "I don't adver-
tise. They just see my work, and
I've got lots to do."
FRONT HALLWAY - The Pletsch house will be Ontario's second
house to be designated a Heritage Property due to its interior. It's
easy to see why. Oxford photo.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
If you're organs ng a non-profit event of Interest to other Seaforth area
reeidenta, phone the recreation office 827-0882 or the Expositor et 827.0240,
or mail the information to Community Calendar, The Huron Expositor, Box
A8, leaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO well In advance of the scheduled date. Free
listing Includes date, time, name of event and location only. Space for the
Community Calendar Is donated by The Huron Expositor.
1
Wed., July 18
12.10-12:50 p.m. — Aqua Flt at Lions 1
Pool
1:30-4:00 p.m. — Senior Shuffleboard 7
st the Community Centras
1:00-4:00 p.m. — Skateboarding st the
Arena
6:30-7:30 p.m. — Minor Soccer at the
Optimist Park
7:30 p.m. — Minor Hockey Meeting a1
Arena
Thurs., July 19
700 p.m. — St. Columban Squirt 1
Soccer vs. Exeter 3 at Dublin Field
8:00-10:00 p m. — Men's Ball Hockey
at SDCC
8 00 p m. — Hogs vs Topnotch
4:00 p.m. — Bollersmith vs.
Beachwood
Fri., July 20
1 00 p.m Story Hour et S•aforfh
Library
Mon., July 23
2:10-12:50 p.m. — Aqua Fit at Lions
Pool
:00 p.m. — St. Columban Atom 3
Soccer vs. St. Columban 2 at Dublin
Field
Tues., July 24
7:00 p m. — Soccer - St. Columban Pee
Wee 1 vs. Lucan at St. Columban
Wed July 25
12:10-12:50 p•m
Pool
1:30-4:00 p.m Shuffleboard at SDCC
1:00-4:00 p.m. — Skateboarding at the
Arens
6.30-7 30 p.m. — Minor Soccer at the
Optimist Park
7 00 p.m. — St Columban Mosquito
Soccer vs. Grand Bend at St
Columban Field
- Aqua Fit at Lions