Fletcher farm

Fletcher farm, 595144 4th line, Grey County

see map below

“595144 4th Line is of interest as a property with a vacant, but once substantial brick farmhouse c.1900, large ruined barn with stone foundation, and unusual stone pump house with windmill which apparently was the home, since the late 19th and much of the 20th, of the Fletcher family…. James Fletcher Sr. had originally built the log house for the family on the lot directly across. This later became a blacksmith shop. The property 595144 is currently for sale and deserves further examination and proper recording, as it is vulnerable to further damage/destruction.” from the ‘Cultural Heritage Landscape Assessment Report, town of the Blue Mountains’ dated Sept. 2009. Explored in November of 2012.

old abandoned farmhouse with windmill just behind it.

First view of the buildings

side view of a brick farm house showing the porch and a couple of windows.

While walking around outside, the view from the south.

view of a basement window. The wall is brick and the foundation is stone. Some of the bricks near the bottom are starting to come loose.

Showing signs of stress and age.

close up view of a door that is painted yellow and blue. The door frame is also yellow and blue. The door knob is rusted. Some of the brick of the house is also in the photo

Attracted by the colours, only to discover that it’s locked.

Two small window panes in a door are broken, there is no glass. When you look through the window you see into the kitchen where there is a stove and a fridge. Otherwise, the house is abandoned.

Broken window panes allow for an unobstructed view into to the kitchen.

Duo-Therm logo on the door of an old oil burning stove that was in the livingroom. These stoves were built by Motor Wheel Corp of Lansing Michigan. Duo-Therm brand stoves were sold between the mid1930s and the mid1950s but I am not sure what years this model was available.

in the middle of living room there is an old oil burning stove. It is near the middle of the room.

The stove was in the middle of the livingroom, complete with an old can to catch any messy drips. At first I thought that the can itself is a bit of history… Puritan Beef Stew made with “formed beef chunks”…. but it didn’t much online research to discover that although the label has changed, Puritan was still makes beef stew until quite recently. And it’s still made with “formed beef chunks”. This stew was first available in 1956 and the Puritan name survived through a number of company mergers, until ConAgra discontinued it.