The Almonte Town and Country House Tour held on Saturday June 11 was a huge success with more than 600 tickets sold by the end of the morning. At $30 a ticket, organizers state that the project will net in excess of $15,0000 for the Almonte General Hospital -Fairview Manor Foundation.
Groups of smiling women ( yes, there was a smattering of men, but this event overwhelmingly attracted women) trooped from house to house marvelling at the style in which other families live. And the tour proved that Mississippi Mills and Appleton do have style. The houses were stunning, each one different from the last, and unique. Whatever your taste, there was a favourite, from the wonderful condo in the Thoburn Mill, to the stone houses of Lynn and Mark Attley, and that of Elizabeth de Snaijer and Rick Andrews. The owners have put significant care into the building or renovation of their homes, each telling a story of the owners.
There were six homes on the tour: the Attley residence in Appleton, the Duncan Brunton condo in the Thoburn Mill, the de Snaijer/Edwards home (aka the Naismith house) just outside Almonte, the Oldfield/Rytwinski Home on Clay Street in Almonte, the Todd home on St Paul Street in Almonte and the Skinner residence in Pakenham.
Ticket holders came from a variety of communities, providing a boost to the Almonte economy. Mill Street was packed with visitors. Some came from Ottawa, and I interviewed two friends from Cobden and Pembroke who loved the tour and the homes. Cobden itself is holding a home tour on June 18 to raise money for a dialysis unit for the Renfrew hospital.
It is fun to see how other people live and to gather decorating ideas. It is amazing that Canadian House and Home and Architectural Digest have not yet discovered these gems, but we will let the pictures tell the story – go to our photo gallery. Inside photos were not allowed, for security reasons, but some homeowners, when they learned the Millstone was covering the event, graciously permitted indoor photos. Our thanks to them.