CLIFFE

A few weeks back we were out and about as a family driving around when I realized that my husband has a talent for spotting houses, houses that I didn’t even notice.  He found two of them that day, this being one of them.

I took a roadside shot and then came home and contacted the landowner for permission for a closer look.

I often rely on my Canon SX60 HS for those long difficult shots that the DSLR and my 300mm lens just can’t get without lens shake or some sort of distortion.  The point and shoot captured this home perfectly and honestly, I didn’t get a better shot when I returned.

My son joined me on this adventure but didn’t get out  of the car to explore with me.

This is also another home that I couldn’t find a whole lot of history about.  Argh!

The first recorded landowner was of Irish Decent and born in 1856 in the Township of Landsdowne, Ontario.  He had one daughter from his first marriage.  He married for the second time in 1885 and came to Manitoba in 1889 as per the individual recorded family history.  The history that I find on this property gives two dates for the purchase of this land.   The RM’s records list a date of  1912.

WHC settled into farming in Manitoba and the first land he broke was 17 acres.  Unfortunately it wasn’t until the 3rd year that the family would see a crop.  The first was frozen and the second was damaged by hail. When he wasn’t farming, WHC did carpentry work for others.

WHC and his second wife had 3 children.  He passed away accidentally in 1911.  Mrs. passed in 1928.  One of their sons farmed the home land with his wife until 1937 when they retired to Boissevain where he did carpentry work and was an appliance repair man.

You truly could not get a bad photo of this house.  The skies were incredible on my second visit and to be completely honest, I shot in auto mode all day and was 100% satisfied with all the shots I took.

While I cannot confirm who built this home and who lived in it when,  I do know that WHC’s son sold the property to the second recorded landowner in approximately 1945.  When he passed away his nephew bought the property and now farms the land surrounding the home, outbuildings and what is left of the barn.

I would have loved to have seen this barn when it was standing.  I would assume with the carpentry background of father and son, it was likely well built and quite amazing.