About twentyyearsagomy friend, Bill Haley, embarkedonabicycle
touringbusiness on theBrucePeninsulaandaskedme to tagalongonhis inau-
gural tour.Our first stopwasatMcIvorHouse. Iwas immediately impressedby
thegrandeurof theplaceandof thedown-home friendlinessof thehosts,Billand
JudyGlassford.On topof that were themouthwateringmeals Judywouldpre-
pare forusaftera longdayof cycling. Itwas still anoperatingbeef farm then so
they served theirownBruceCountybeef fordinner.Mywifeand Ihavebooked
aweekendwith friendsasayearly retreat ever since.
In2005Billand Judydecided itwas time to relaxand retire from farm-
ingand thebedandbreakfast business. Fortunately, their daughter Tonyaand
son-in-law Jeremydecided to takeover thebusinessand run it asaweekend re-
treatandspa. Incidentally, Tonyaand Jeremywerealsomarriedat the familyes-
tate. Their weddingwas not the intimateaffair in the front parlor likemomand
dad… instead theyweremarriedonabeautiful Septemberafternoonout on the
front lawn. A large tent was erected for theweddingdinner and thedrive shed
scrubbedanddecorated for thedanceand reception.Notevenahuge thunder-
storm that rolled through later that eveningandcutoff thepower, coulddampen
the fun. (I wonder... was it really the storm or could it have been ‘unwanted
guests’... perhapsanother ‘smudging’ needs tobedone?)
Thanks toTonyaand
JeremyMiller and Bill
and JudyGlassford for
helpwith this storyand
forproviding treasured
familyphotographs.
|E|
ESCARPMENT
®
HISTORY
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mcivor house... a make-over saga
McIvor House soon after it was built in 1902
McIvor House today (above) and hosts, Tonya and JeremyMiller (below)
52
Escarpment Magazine Spring 2014
