Lake of Bays Heritage Foundation

Memoir

Granny Ellis’ House

The memories of the Robert Ellis family homestead persist. And rightfully so!

“Oh, you live in Granny Ellis’ house!” Is a comment that Anne and Rod Mason have come to expect any time they tell local people where their seasonal home is located. Although Emma Ellis passed away almost thirty years ago and her home has seen tenants and two owners during that time, the memories of the Robert Ellis family homestead persist. And rightfully so! Built in circa 1890 by Mr. Bushnell, an early teacher in Baysville, the frame house with its large windows and a verandah on three sides, became the Ellis home at an early date. It was surrounded by acres of land, extending from Spruce Street, then the outlying street in Baysville, north to Lake of Bays. Early photographs show the Ellis house nestled among beautiful gardens at the edge of town. The lakeside area was known as Ellis grove, and with its beaches and evergreens it was the site of many Sunday school picnics and family gatherings.

Emma Ellis was the daughter of Joel Alldred who ran the White House Hotel, on the west side of Lake of Bays, for forty years. Thus, her involvement in the community began early and was extensive, as was Robert’s, especially after they settled in town and raised a family of four: George (generally known as Dode), William, Jack and Madeline.


The Ellis homestead not only included their large home, but a barn, storage shed and log cabin on the lake at the rear of the property. Emma and Robert owned two cows, a flock of chickens and a turkey which proved to be very aggressive, especially with venturesome grandchildren!


As the years passed, parts of the Ellis property became sites and homes for Dr. Jeffery, the local doctor in Baysville and Dorset, Jack and George and their families, and granddaughter Patsy and her family. Then, with the arrival of cottagers from the city, the scenic waterfront along the lake was divided and built upon.


The Ellis family shed became an ice storage house for summer ice for the cottagers. While seasonal residents enjoyed her former waterfront lands, Emma Ellis continued to cultivate her beautiful gardens, berry patch and vegetable plot and to pasture her cow, milking it in the shed which his still attached to the house. 


George, her son who resided next door, kept a team of horses in the barn – a team which he used in the logging business around Baysville.

Over time, the large verandah surrounding the house disappeared. When asked about this by the Masons, George comically responded that, as the family firewood got low, they simply burned the verandah piece by piece!


During the latter part of her life, Emma Ellis, as a widow, modified the two story home to permit single floor living. The centre hall stairway was relocated and the upstairs was closed off, particularly during the winter. Her favourite change to the house was the addition of the front sunroom, a bright, cheery area from which Emma could survey the comings and goings of Baysville.


As the Masons enjoy Granny Ellis’ house today, the often wish that the walls could talk, for they could relate much about the fascinating life of one of Baysville’s earliest families. Anne and Rod appreciate the fact that grandsons and great-grandsons of Emma and Robert Ellis, as contractors, provide assistance in renovations to the old homesteads. Granny Ellis would have been proud.


This article republished with permission of the author. “Granny Ellis’ House” was originally published in the South Shore Time, Baysville's in 2001. By Rod Mason.

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