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127 High Street
First time on the tour!
This home has undergone a complete interior makeover! The original staircase remains but an updated open interior, new kitchen and bathrooms are inspiring!
A great home for entertaining or being in your Zen space!
Decorator: Sue Pitchforth
Sue Pitchforth of Decor Therapy Plus is an International Award Winning Designer, media personality and speaker, who is just thrilled and honoured to be a part of this year’s Vankleek Hill Christmas Home Tour!
Sue’s approach to design is refreshing, unique, and inexpensive, yet yields luxurious results. Believing the home is an expression of your life & personality, Sue is known for making design easy, fun and affordable. Forget everything that overwhelmed or intimated you about design, it’s a whole new world when you work with Sue.
Being new to the community, Sue is excited to open up her own home to share her love of the Christmas season with you – with a little bit of a festive twist!
Specialty Vendor: It’s Pouring Art by Gayle Wiebe Oudeh
My creative journey has taken me from music to writing to painting. On a whim, I began dabbling with acrylic paint pouring and found my happy place! Largely self-taught in this medium, I am inspired by colour and motion and the emotions they evoke. I use various tools and techniques to create abstract art on all surfaces, but all involve pouring the paint, rather than brushing on. The ultimate creative moment comes as I pour the paint – there is that moment of letting go and allowing the paint to flow as it will that I find compelling. Every pour is unique, an opportunity to learn and grow and embrace what is. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, I work on commissioned artwork and teach the art of paint pouring. I believe that art belongs in all aspects of our lives and so, in addition to painting on canvas, I produce functional art such as trays, glassware, boxes, and jewelry. I hope that through my art I can share the joy I experience when I am in creative “flow”!
Specialty Vendor: Curated Finds Inspired For You
Curated Finds Inspired For You is thrilled to be coming to Vankleek Hill and hosting a special, festive pop-up shop at the Vankleek Hill Christmas Home Tour! We will be showcasing special, pre-loved, festive treasures perfect for gift giving, highlighted in inspiring vignettes! Don’t forget to pick up your complimentary “Festive Appetizer Recipe scroll” while visiting us!
Find us on Facebook! | www.curatedfinds.ca
House History
The Bond House built in 1893.
This location, plus all the homes on this side of High Street, sit on the original 800-acres farmland that belonged to Simon and Cecilia VanKleeck – the namesakes of Vankleek Hill. They were United Empire Loyalists. In 1797, after several land swaps, they chose to stay and farm here – on what became known as Van Kleeck’s Hill.
In the 1870s, Charles Henry Bond purchased 200 acres from John VanKleek, a grandson of Simon and Cecilia. This was the last section of the original VanKleek farm, and John VanKleek was the last of the VanKleek Family to carry the family name in this area.
Ten years later, Charles Bond unexpectedly died. This left his widow Eliza with seven children and a farm to operate. Stephen Bond at 19 was the oldest child, and for the next decades he took on the mantle of making their farm successful. He and his mother supported the six children to success.
When he married in the early 1890s, Stephen constructed this house for his mother and his two single sisters. Stephen was not far away. He built the larger red brick home next door for himself and his own growing family of six children. There was once a carriage house at the rear, and the joint driveway created for the two homes remains in use today.
This house remained in the family for two more generations, and is known by locals as the Bond House.
The staircase that Stephen Bond installed in 1893 is a Victorian delight. It has three decorative newel posts – positioned at the bottom of the stairs, on the twist, and at the top. A craftsman hand-carved the railing to ensure that the twist in the handrail, as it turned toward the second floor, allowed for even spacing between the milled rails.
To further embellish the staircase, gingerbread cut-outs were applied to the stair brackets.
Several years ago, an accidental fire badly seriously damaged the interior. The restoration gives a nod to the 1893 design features with the top-rounded front window to match the doorway style still in play. On the outside, the seating area above the front porch was formerly enclosed as a summer sleeping nook.
There were five Vankleek Hill brickyards. The local clay gave rise to a red brick town. A skilled mason created the detailed decorative brickwork that highlights each window and the entryway.