A piece of Olde England in a historic Sudbury home.
A perennial and herb garden, a goldfish pond and waterfall, English antique heirlooms! These are some of the features associated with the "Crooked Tree Guest House" in downtown Sudbury. Located at 250 Edmund Street, the house was built in 1900 by William McVittie a pioneer prospector and Sudbury businessman.
Mc Vittie, the son of Scottish immigrant parents, was born in Perth County in 1852. He was reared at the family farm near St Mary's and educated in the local schools. He left home when he was 22 to seek his fortune in the west. He started in Winnipeg and spent the following thirteen years contracting throughout the developing western country. In 1887 , a railroad contract brought him back east to Saulte Sainte Marie where he worked for some years. It was about this time that the dawning mining industry was creating a fever of exploration and speculation around Sudbury. It drew McVittie like a magnet!
Portrait of William McVittie
For seventeen years he was very active as a prospector and promoter and is credited with helping to discover the Elsie, Gertrude, Kirkwood and Frood Mines. He saw other, greater opportunities by harnessing the waters of nearby rivers to create electricity. The electric power industry was very much in its infancy when, in 1904, he began the construction of a power plant at Coniston. With partners Frank Cochrane (well known business man, politician and one-time mayor of Sudbury) and banker Norman Hilary he formed the Wahnapitei Power Co. The company succeeded in obtaining the first contract to supply power to the City of Sudbury (120kW/year).
The Mond Nickel Company followed Sudbury's lead and contracted for an additional 300kW/year, however they had little faith that the experiment of using electric power would result favorably and only committed for three years supply! Their skepticism was misplaced and the demand for the new power source increased. Capacity at the Coniston plant was doubled in 1909 and a second station was added in 1912.
Construction of the Burnt Chute Dam of theWahnapitae Power Company at McVittie siding, 1912.
The standard of living for the people of Sudbury improved as the use of electricity increased. In 1914 electric streetlights were introduced on Durham, Elm and Elgin, described as the "latest word in electrical science" they were large opal glass globes mounted on iron stands, each with 1000 candle power. A new innovation was the electric stove and by May 1917, 24 households in Sudbury were cooking "by wire". In 1928 the operations of the Wahnapitei Power Co were purchased from McVittie and Cochrane by the newly formed Ontario Hydro. The result was that Sudbury's power needs were no longer obtained from a private company but from the
Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario.McVitties' second son, Andrew, was given the middle name Edison in honor of Thomas Alva Edison the pioneer inventor and responsible for many breakthroughs in electricity. Edison himself came to Sudbury in 1901 with his second wife Minna Miller Edison, brother-in-law John V Miller and other associates. He set up an office on Larch Street and explored the district for nickel, and using innovative geophysical techniques, made the original discoveries in Falconbridge Township which eventually lead to the establishment of the Falconbridge company. He was likely a frequent guest at the Edmund street house. John Miller stayed on in Sudbury for several years representing Edison's interests. The correspondence and business files of this activity have been microfilmed . They are preserved and currently undergoing documentation at the Rutgers University
"Thomas A. Edison Papers" project.McVittie was recognized as a true pioneer during his lifetime, a contemporary biography states:
"To such men as Mr. McVittie the world owes all its advancement, men who see, dare and triumph. To such men a new world, unhampered by traditions and teeming with untouched resources, furnishes both inspiration and opportunity. And following in the path they blaze, all reap the benefits that accrue."
William McVittie died in October 1933. He had five children and, in 1900 he built the house at 250 Edmund to accommodate his large family. Unfortunately Anne, his wife for 21 years died the following year. He remarried in 1905 to Laura Phillips.
The teenaged children of the current occupants are convinced that Anne's ghost haunts their bedrooms on the upper floors, presumably she remains upset about a second wife moving into the house built for her !!
The house remained in the McVittie family until 1957 when the Kierans family purchased it. Thomas Kierans, was a resident of the house at this time. He has since become rather famous for promoting the "GRAND" scheme. This stands for Great Recycling and Northern Development, and essentially consists of a proposal to place a dike across James Bay and thereby create an immense freshwater lake which could be used, in Kieran's words to: " fix the plumbing system of the continent." The pros and cons of this idea are discussed in an article
available online.An Australian family, Roland and Pamela Farrant, purchased the house in 1967 and carried out major renovations. Roland was a Professor of psychology at Laurentian University in Sudbury. He has since returned to Perth where he is currently President of the
Humanist Society of Western Australia. A local lawyer purchased the property in 1987 and sold it to the present owners, John and Renate Gammon in 1991. The Gammons have expended major efforts in upgrading it for use as a Bed and Breakfast and have totally landscaped the property introducing a swimming pool, waterfall, goldfish pond, many decks, a refurbished barn and perennial gardens that drew the Sudbury Horticultural Society on their annual tour.
The house has a total of eight bedrooms, four of which are available to long term guests at the "Crooked Tree". This name is derived from the spectacularly shaped Manitoba Maple tree gracing the front yard of the property. The current owners have spent a great deal of effort in landscaping the grounds and the house has become a horticultural landmark at the corner of Edmund and Ramsey for the variety of flowers appearing throughout the seasons.
Lower half of the porch showing the original small irregularly surfaced handmade panes of glass
Architecturally the house is noteworthy for the original small, irregular hand made windowpanes in the two-story porch. The horse barn in the rear of the property is still intact.
The original fireplace, still used in winter, showing the unique cabinetry around the chimney breast.
In the main house, the unique fireplace woodwork, cabinets and wall moldings have all been preserved.