Ever since Vince Agostino from Toronto purchased a house nearly 160-years-old in Elora five years ago, he became fascinated with the house’s history and had been looking for descendants of the man who built his home.
Little did he know, they would come right to his doorstep.
The old stone house belonging to Agostino sits on Princess Street near downtown Elora and belonged to Francis Dalby, who built the house himself and whose legacy is known far and wide across the town.
Agostino, a businessman from Toronto, found it to be a little slice of paradise and it wasn’t just the architecture in and outside the house that intrigued him, it was the history of the house and the man Francis Dalby himself.
“I cannot put into words with you what it's like living there,” says Agostino who lives in the Elora home with his wife Susan and two children – Marcus 23, and Nicole 26. The family has split its time between Toronto and Elora during the pandemic.
The house is hidden on a street facing the Grand River surrounded by greenery. Old wooden floorboards cover the interior which is furnished with antique fixtures such as an old wood oven, and mini curtains to cover the little windows. A little balcony on the top floor overlooks the garden below decorated with statues and fountains and an old water pump in the garden from Dalby’s time which works even today.
Originally from England, Francis Dalby immigrated to Elora from Richmond Hill with his family in 1855. A few years later, he built a tannery and a brewery by the Grand River and built the stone house on Princess Street on the rear of his business establishments. The house still overlooks those buildings.
One of his sons, Rober,t had taken over Francis’s establishments when he moved back to England, and was known to be one of the wealthiest men in the area during the mid-1870s constructing iconic structures such as the flat-iron building in the heart of Elora, also known as The Dalby Hotel, which now operates as a medical building.
After researching online and through local archives, Agostino built a comprehensive file on the history of his home and the ancestors of Dalby.
“But one thing I could never find,” said Agostino, “I could never find words of any descendants of the Dalby family. I've Googled it and I've searched for it but I could never find any actual living descendants of the Dalby family.”
A month ago while working outside in his garden, four women walked in front of his house, which for Agostino was not unusual since he’s used to people looking at his home.
While they walked by, the eldest woman greeted him and said ‘You know, my great grandfather built this house.’
“My jaw dropped,” said Agostino.
The woman, Ginnie Dalby Baxter was with her daughter Cathie Abernethy and two grandchildren Nicole Abernethy and Sydney Abernethy and came to Elora to teach the children about their family history.
Agostino invited the family into his home on Saturday to give them a tour of the inside of the house for the first time.
“It was wonderful because we’ve gone by and looked at this,” said Ginnie who had only ever seen the house from the outside her entire life.
Cathie said the family had been discussing the family history recently and because there was not much to do during the pandemic, it was a good idea to introduce the grandchildren a little bit about the family history. They never imagined the owner would be just as enthusiastic about their family history as they were.
Ginnie’s son, Paul Baxter, also came along on the visit and said one can feel time in the house.
“I think it's two ways. You can imagine that you’re talking to people 160 years ago that you’re related to. You can also put yourselves in their shoes, like can you imagine, 160 years later ancestors of theirs would be here walking in the same footsteps,” said Paul.
“I think for me it was the old floor boards on the top floor that really spoke to me. The historical original parts. The basement was pretty cool too but there's something about the floorboards, the railing that you can really picture how it was,” said Nicole Abernathy.
Sitting on the balcony facing the Grand River, the Dalby family chatted, laughed and bonded over the house’s story with the Agostinos.
“It's our little slice of paradise is what it is,” said Agostino.
Agostino said in his career of 35 years which took him across the province, he finds Elora to be the most beautiful city in Ontario,
“That's why I'm here,” said Agostino.
“Somebody can say Vince, you know, we'll give you $100 million. And I might choose to say no because if you love something so much I can’t put a price on it,” said Agostino.
