‘You needed a machete to get to the place’: Couple transforms dilapidated brick ruin into dreamy modern farmhouse

Most people would be horrified at the ramshackle old farmhouse. There were holes in the roof, no running water, no heat, just one working light bulb, the rooms were full of garbage and dead rodents, and the inside walls were covered in black mould. But Beth Egan and Simon Prigmore saw their dream home.
Its location near Schomberg, Ont. and its size (3.5 acres) were a fit for Egan and Prigmore, as they sought to downsize from a larger farm they had sold in Palgrave. After losing out on offers on a couple of other places, Prigmore spotted a For Sale sign on a Tottenham side road.
“You needed a machete to get to the house,” he recalls.
The yard, overgrown with weeds, was full of junk, including piles of skids and the rusty remains of an old vehicle. “Most people would have run from it.”
Adds Egan: “Our expectations were low. We basically bought four walls. I love projects and we both love century homes.”
She called in general contractor Carman Apreda of Century Craft Custom Home Builders.
Apreda said they were on to something.
“He said he’d never seen straighter walls or a better stone foundation for a house of this age,” Egan says. “He said: ‘If you don’t buy it, I will.’ ”
As the 1850s-era farmhouse required gutting, the couple found a house to rent, closed the deal in late 2019, and started the renovation in January 2020.
Fortunately, the contractor and trades had been booked before pandemic shutdowns began and supply chain issues interrupted, and Egan was able to source everything they needed. The property contained a barn, a must-have as the couple keeps laying hens and Prigmore raises racing pigeons, and the supplies were stored there.
Working with architect Tom Spragge, the layout was redesigned to work better for the couple. A pantry and mud room were added to the front, and a porch along the whole length of the front. A 25-foot-by-30-ft.-great-room was built where a collapsing attached garage had stood.
Just 11 months after work began, the couple spent Christmas 2020 in their new home.
It had been transformed into a spectacular modern farmhouse.
The home is now 3,500-square feet and has three bedrooms, each with an ensuite bathroom. The couple added an oversized garage, with an apartment above it. Here, Egan’s mother lived until her death. Now they rent it to a tenant.
The exterior of the original farmhouse was red brick. The couple planned to keep the colour of the bricks, and have the great room addition and all new windows in white. But two of the house’s exterior walls had been painted white, and trying to sandblast the paint off would destroy the brick. As well, the east end exterior wall was bowing, so it had to be taken down and rebuilt.
“I’d seen lots of photos of modern white farmhouses, so I said ‘Let’s paint the whole house white!,’ ” Egan says. “We went from a red brick house with white windows to a white house with black windows, with farmhouse red doors.”
The heart of the home is the kitchen, designed to Egan’s specifications and equipped with everything she needs for her custom cake business.
“The kitchen wasn’t originally in this room. It had a furnace in it and was likely the summer kitchen,” she says. “We were able to get a large island in and on one side of it, drawers pull out with all my baking stuff. It’s amazing. There is a place for everything.” Family or friends can pull up bar stools to sit and chat while she works.
Egan loves her French-made Lacanche range with three ovens (electric, gas and convection) and seven burners. She went with a copper sink and GE Café appliances with copper handles. The white Shaker-style cabinetry is custom, with black hardware.
Although the house is new and modern inside, the couple wanted to blend in hints of its original character. The new double-hung windows resemble those found in century farmhouses. They replicated the original gingerbread trim on the house’s gables.
Prigmore stripped the paint and refinished an original door, and inserted a frosted glass panel. It’s now the pantry door. An original latch is on the mud room door. They kept the back staircase intact, and Prigmore refinished the spindles and railing, leaving some traces of the old paint. Egan inherited a lot of antique furniture, and it’s found throughout.
“One of the things I’m proud of is that the brick around the gas fireplace in the great room came from the house, when we opened up a doorway to make it larger,” Egan says. “The barnboard on the wall that runs from the top of the fireplace to the ceiling came from the house, too. Some boards are 18 inches wide.”
The great room has become the central gathering place, as “it’s important to us to be able to have all the family together,” says Egan.
Often, there are 25 people for holidays and events, including their adult children (his daughter, her two sons), their partners and three grandchildren, and Simon’s sister and niece. They have a huge window seat in the great room, that can accommodate 16 people sitting at two eight-foot tables. For a good part of the year, they gather outdoors on the massive covered deck with outdoor fireplace adjoining the family room, or take a swim in the built-in swim spa.
“One thing that’s amazing about the great room is the views of the far-reaching hills,” says Egan. “The sunset views wrap around the great room because there are so many windows. It just glows. That’s pretty special.”