The house built by John Green in 1853 was on the bluff above the mill and dam. It faced south and the wide porch must have been a sunny place to work or relax. Four of John and Barbara’s children were still at home when the new house was built, although not for long. Joseph died two years later; Rachael and Rebecca married, but Isaac stayed in the family home and in 1865 brought his bride, Mary Jane Trumbo, to live there. Isaac worked the farm with his father and cared for his parents in their old age. The farm is still in the possession of Isaac’s descendants. Isaac died in 1904 and his son Lyle took over the running of the farm, with his older sister Maud keeping house for him and their mother. In 1908, Lyle married Eva Duffield and Maud and Mary Jane moved to Ottawa.

In 1926, Lyle decided to tear the house down and replace it. The kitchen was detached from the house and moved across the road, where it became a house for a hired man.

Old kitchen now a house

The new house occupied the same site as the old and also faced south. Lyle and Eva divorced and Maud moved back to Dayton to keep house for her brother again. When Lyle died in 1935, his brother Ralph took over the house and the running of the farm.

The new house