MacFarlene House
Kempt Head Road
1870
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Malcolm MacFarlene was granted the original deed for this property. The house was built as the homestead of the MacFarlene farm. The owner has found newspapers dating from the 1870's in the course of renovations.
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Architectural Comment
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This house was originally built in a four-square symmetrical style with a front dormer. A side addition increased the house from one-and-a-half storeys to a full two storeys. A front-side ell and veranda were also added to the house, making its appearance vernacular. The roof, windows, and shingle cladding are all second-generation or more recent. During renovations on the interior of the house (which restored parts of the inside to their original appearance), the current owner discovered that newspapers (dating from the 1870's) were used for insulation in the walls
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Contextual Comment
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The house is situated near the Matheson Road and the old road that ran the length of Boularderie. An original barn remains on the property in a fairly stable condition. It is one of the only older barns on Boularderie Island - it has a metal roof, which has protected it from the rot that destroys most barns. The timbers used to construct the barn are 'live lumber': they were cut from the forest, run through the saw once, and leveled with a hatchet. They are much larger than timbers cut in the twentieth century, and are held in place by wooden pegs. The barn is of standard asymmetrical design, and is representative of the many barns that have burned or rotted from lack of use since farming declined in popularity in the area.
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