April Meeting - Recap

The first stop for members of the Grey County Historical Society in April was a the 1896 Solomon Hill House now known as Holly Hill Manor.

Solomon Hill built the Queen Anne style home in the late 1890s. Special features of the home are arched windows, stand glass, wood trims and an octangular tower. An outside elevator was used to take coal to the summer kitchen in the basement.

The living room fireplace has been restored. The woods have never been painted. The main level floor woods are of oak and those upstairs are of pine.

Solomon Hill was the son of George William Hill and Dorcas Richards who came from Devonshire, England to Canada. In 1874, Solomon married Sarah Ellen Smith of Trenton.

Solomon Hill and his brothers William, Silas, John and Thomas built the Hill Brothers General Store.

Solomon and Sarah Hill had eight children.

The Hill House has had five owners. For part of its history, it was a funeral home under the ownership of Bert and Jean Hamilton who lived there from 1964-1987.

It is now a bed and breakfast.

At Cooke's Church Hall, the following were nominated and were acclaimed as members of the Board of Directors, effective June 1, 2010:
President: Janet Iles
Past President: Rod Saunders
Vice-President: Susan Schank
Secretary: Bonna Rouse
Treasurer: Michael Kirby
Carol Black, Lynda Chiotti, Tom Cole, Doug Henry, Sarah Redmond and Pam Woolner.

Our guest speaker was Ruth Cathcart, author of How Firm a Foundation: Historic Houses of Grey County and The Architecture of a Provincial Society: Houses of Bruce County, Ontario 1850-1900. She gave an illustrated talk about the architecture of Grey and Bruce counties. She explained the different architectural styles that can be found in both counties as she showed samples of the beautiful homes during her slide show. Some styles that can found are: Ontario Gothic, Regency Gothic, Wilderness Georgian, High Victorian and Queen Anne.