Royalist’s home on Symphony house tour Saturday

2011 Design and Promotional By Orchard Design

There is a real dichotomy to the St. Agatha home known as SpruceHaven. Though it seems impossible, the place is both huge and intimate.

“I didn’t want it terribly big, but there you have it, its 7,500 square feet, three floors,” said Jamie Hill, talking about the house he shares with his wife Sandy and her brother David Westfall.

Given the dimensions of the house, it’s difficult to imagine how they managed to make it feel so cosy, but perhaps the answer comes in the sheer number of rooms in the home, plenty of space for everyone to have their own den/office, bathroom, living room, sun room and even patio.

Sandy Hill also has at least three, perhaps four workshops for her crafting. In fact there is so much space, and so many cool areas to just hang out, it would be easy to squirrel away for days on end and never be discovered.

Hill fully credits his brother- in-law with coming up with the design of SpruceHaven, a home so filled with family history, there is barely a piece of furniture or accessory that doesn’t have a story behind it.

Like the framed blue tapestry with gold thread hanging by the front door. Hill said it belonged to his grandmother who was in London during the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth and purchased five pieces of the tapestry that had hung in Westminster Abbey. According to Hill, the original tapestry was cut into smaller pieces and sold off to help offset the cost of the coronation. His grandmother bought four for the equivalent of $20 each. Hill eventually inherited one.

Hill is a member of the local chapter of the Monarchist League of Canada. His den is really just homage to the British Royal family, with flags and photos and artifacts galore.

“David will say we have a $2 tour and for an extra 50 cents they will eliminate Jamie’s office.’”

Well, it certainly isn’t to everyone’s taste but the room is definitely a slice of English history, set in the Ontario countryside. On Saturday, that countryside will be filled with curious visitors to six homes on the 13th annual House & Garden Tour of Note. The annual fundraiser for the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony is expected to raise $26,000.

As a property on the tour, SpruceHaven is both lovely and historic. The family’s roots date back generations to Menno and Lydia Erb and much of their furniture is now in SpruceHaven.

Westfall had been living in the property’s original old farmhouse with his parents since 1979, until they moved to a retirement village. He continued to live in the home for about a year until the Hills sold their home in Hamilton and moved into the farmhouse where the three tested the waters of cohabitation.

“I retired (from teaching) in 2000 and we moved here,” said Hill. “In the fall of 2001 we broke ground and moved in around May 2002.”

The new home is a blend of old and new. Antiques are scattered throughout the house, set against a back drop of clean, modern lines. The main entrance is quite large and grand, with a huge brass chandelier and, most cleverly, a bar area is hidden behind dark oak cupboard doors filling the entire wall and opening from both the hallway and the kitchen. Perfect for entertaining.

Hill admits that given they have the largest house, family gatherings tend to be at SpruceHaven. One of the most popular hideaways for the little ones is under the stairs in the lower part of the house, an area that was supposed to be storage crawl space but instead became a children’s private play area with a four-foot ceiling.

Two siblings and a brother-in-law living together seems to work well for this unusual family. But there is one issue they argue over and that is what to call the large glassed in room on the west side of the house.

“I call it a lanai which is very Floridian, Dave and Sandy call it a sunroom,” Hill said.

Westfall, who has mobility issues, has his living quarters on the main level, though there is an elevator which takes him to the lower level and his den/library, a richly gorgeous room that makes one want to curl up with a good book and glass of Chardonnay.

The house, given its size, would easily take an hour or more to fully explore, particularly looking over the collection of artifacts saved from the old farmhouse, as well as artwork like the piece of stained glass built into a wall. There is a mish mash of old and new, of exotic and of historic, yet somehow it all works together.

Outside, the home is surrounded by beautiful gardens, patios, a front courtyard and plantings of native species. Behind the house is a large pond. Everywhere there is bird song.

As an example of what visitors can see on Saturday’s tour, SpruceHaven is certainly unique, in size, style and ambience, a house with a definite character all its own.

Original article as published by the KW Record.

Kitchener Waterloo Symphony House & Garden Tour of Note

Six homes in St. Agatha, Conestogo and Waterloo, discounts offered at four area restaurants for ticket holders

Saturday, June 11, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tickets $25 available at Words Worth Books, Waterloo, Bowring, Kitchener, Gmelin Flower & Gifts, Cambridge and Rumbletum Cafe & Gifts, Conestogo

Information www.kwsymphony.ca/housetour/index.php