Dan and Carol Lyn Brown are inviting the public to tour Brantford’s iconic Crystal Cottage on Sunday, December 8, 2024.
The couple, who are known for preserving and restoring heritage homes in the Brantford-Brant area, purchased the house from the Brant Historical Society (BHS) in April and have been working hard to repair the home to its former glory ever since.
The house was originally located at 35 Chatham St. for well over 120 years, however in 2020, a developer purchased the property as part of a larger project to build an apartment building on the lands bordered by Market, Chatham, Queen and Nelson Streets. The house was eventually sold to the BHS and moved to 53 Charlotte St. in November of 2021.
By the time Dan and Carol Lyn purchased the house earlier this year, they had already been working on building a new home, now known as the Turquoise Cottage, on Oak Street, a project they say was an ode to the original Crystal Cottage.
“It’s interesting how this worked out, we set out to build a replica of Crystal Cottage because we couldn’t have it and then we ended up with both,” laughed Dan.
With the intent of not taking on too much at once, the Browns decided to finish the Turquoise Cottage before diving into restoration work at 35 Charlotte St., though in the meantime, they spent a large chunk of time sourcing salvaged materials they could use to replace what was damaged in the move.
“There’s a row of 300-plus glass Bixel Beer bottles that go around the outside of the house in place of a row of bricks and some of those were broken in the move,” said Carol Lyn. “We also needed to replace some of the brick work outside as well as some drywall.”
“The big thing with this project is, there’s a lot of salvaged pieces that we had to source,” added Dan. “We had to scope out demolitions that were going to be happening around town and then we’d bring a sample brick with us to look at the building, but then we’d have to kind of wait for that demolition date before we could retrieve them. We ended up getting the bricks we needed for the house from three different locations around town, including the old Red Cross building.”
With the materials they needed in their possession, Dan and Carol Lyn eventually hired a trusted mason to replace the brick work.
“Not only did we have to find the materials to make it happen but we then had to find the right people to do the work,” said Dan. “There are many masons out there and some are skilled in one area of masonry, and some are skilled in others so we had to find the one who was right for us.”
When the brick work was finally done, the Browns set out to replace the old slate roof as it had been damaged throughout the years.
As for the Bixel Beer bottles that were broken in the move, the couple realized early on that finding enough originals for the project wouldn’t be an easy task.
“We had to replace 99 bottles of beer in the wall and I think we were able to replace five original Bixel Beer bottles in total and the rest are period correct, the right size and the right colour,” said Dan.
This past summer, the Browns invited members of the public to drop off letters and other mementos to be sealed inside the bottles as they were put in place, effectively making a Crystal Cottage a living time capsule.
With everything done on the outside, including installing brand new windows, the couple were able to continue their efforts inside of the house.
“We mostly did our own repairs on the inside because when the house was moved, the developers had to pay to do all the mechanicals so there’s a new furnace, hot water tank, duct work, and electrical panel, as well as all brand new plumbing,” said Dan. “We re-wired the whole house, but we basically just did repairs on the inside, which made it easier for us.”
While the layout of the 900 sq ft. house remains the same (one floor, two bedrooms, one bathroom, a kitchen and living room), the Browns had to repair some of the drywall, paint, and replace the flooring.
Not only that, but to help restore the original feel of the century home, the Browns also salvaged and installed trim and baseboards from the Red Cross building all along the windows and doors inside.
Now that the work is finally done, albeit, three months behind from their original finish date, Dan and Carol Lyn have been hard at work cleaning, putting in the final touches and staging it to be sold at a later date.
Carol Lyn said that while it’s always tough to say goodbye to a project, herself and Dan know that the house will be a perfect fit for somebody.
“It was a very functional house to begin with and it has a really nice layout. It now also has a full nine-foot ceiling basement with a separate entrance and there’s rough-ins for a kitchen and bathroom down there so it could be a whole separate unit,” she said. “For every house we do, it totally feels like it’s our baby; and it should feel that way because if I didn’t feel like that, I don’t know if we could do what we do and how we do it. So, it will be going up for sale after the December 8 tour and I just know it will be right for someone.”
Dan added that as far as zoning goes, there are also plenty of options as far as utilizing the home.
“When the house was on Chatham Street, it was a residential house and then when it moved over here onto a commercial lot, it then became zoned as such,” he said. “Now, we have gone through the whole process to get it zoned as residential as well, and so whoever buys it can either use it as two residential units, or two businesses, or even one residential unit and a business, there’s a lot of options.”
He also noted that while the house was designated as a heritage home years ago, during the move it lost the title as it was tied to the land, but that they are currently going through the process of having it redesignated.
“When you renovate or do anything with a heritage home, it has to be done a certain way,” said Dan. “I think that’s one of the reasons why we were trusted with the project, they [the BHS] knew that we would treat it right and that any changes we made, would be done as if it were designated at the time. Now that all the building permits are out of the way and everything is done, we’re now going through the process of having it redesignated as a heritage home like it was before.”
Speaking about the history of the heritage home, the couple said that one of the interesting things they found out throughout the project was the date the home was built.
“It says 1876 on the designation plaque outside, but Nathan [Etherington] from the museum did research on it, and it’s now believed to be built in 1903,” said Dan.
“He was able to use different types of maps and documentation about who lived in the area, as well as the timing of the Bixel Beer bottles, and he narrowed it down to around 1903,” added Carol Lyn. “Now, he did also explain that the 1876 date could have actually been the year that the land was acquired. So that was all very interesting to find out.”
They said that overall, they are honoured that they had the opportunity to restore Crystal Cottage and bring it back to its former glory.
“I’m still excited and honoured that they asked us to buy it, this is project number 41 for us so we certainly had the experience to do it,” said Dan.
As far as their favourite part of the finished product goes, Dan said he loves the way people are able to see the messages in the Bixel Beer bottles from the street, while Carol Lyn said it was the newly installed crystal chandelier by the kitchen, as well as the new faux fireplace mantel they scored from the side of the road.
“Someone was doing their own take on a renovation and so the fireplace mantel ended up on their front lawn and one of our followers on Facebook actually messaged us about it,” said Carol Lyn. “We really like being able to reuse and repurpose different things and I think that’s shown here; we have two mirrors from the Red Cross building and the tile on the mantel is from Facebook Marketplace and then so is the flooring. Those things may not be for everyone and some people may not be willing to go into a house that’s in disrepair to get something, but there’s value to those items.”
For those that are interested in seeing the finished Crystal Cottage, a fundraising tour will take place on Sunday, December 8, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
“We wanted to do the tour as a way to not only show the public what we’ve done, but to also help out and raise funds for the BHS,” said Carol Lyn. “On the day, we’ll be talking about the house inside and then the BHS will be here collecting donations and they’ll help us guide people through the door, down the stairs and out the back door.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
