By an odd coincidence, this house was actually built in 1876 by a British widow, who came to Canada with three children. She was very enterprising, building stables next door and supplying the lumberyards and businesses down the hill with horses and wagons! The house is perched on the edge of an escarpment, so we have a 'partial',  'wet basement', with bits of cliff and a low ceiling.

Ottawa, sitting at the confluence of three rivers, was a booming lumber town, and down the hill from here, by the river, was a rough and tumble assortment of saloons, rooming houses, lumberyards, and wild men come down the rivers from the northern stands of virgin pine forests.

She would have seen that whole industrial area burned to the ground along with the businesses and homes, not once but twice! Being on the edge of the rock escarpment saved the house from the flames.

The (retired federal court justice) father of a friend of mine years ago made this woodblock print... you can see the escarpment in the background. So it fittingly hangs in the 'parlour', a reminder of days gone by.

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