Rural residents fight to save late neighbour’s home amid redevelopment plan

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Citizens of an Elgin County town are concerned that a beloved old home’s new owner may demolish it to develop a 16-unit apartment complex on the property.

A group of local citizens is lobbying to save the two-storey yellow brick Victorian home on Shackleton Street in Dutton Dunwich, a municipality about 50 kilometres southwest of London. One online database dates its original construction to 1890.

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“We want it protected for our cultural heritage and for future generations,” Denise Welch, one of the citizens trying to preserve it, wrote in an email exchange with The Free Press about the home at 269 Shackleton St. – which she said is “commonly known as Bill Flum’s house.”

Bill Flum was its longtime owner. He moved into the house – which is listed on the Dutton Dunwich heritage register as having cultural heritage value – with his family when he was a teenager in the 1950s and lived there until his death at the age of 84 in 2021, said Flum’s close friend and neighbour, Jean Louise Ford.

“He lived there, and he was important to the town, and he looked after it,” said Ford, a 34-year Dutton Dunwich resident.

Ford was the executor of Flum’s estate when he died, and said his hope was that a family would live in and enjoy the home. Since Flum’s death, Ford said the property has had several owners, but its newest one may have other plans.

An application to sever the land was approved by Elgin County’s land division committee on Oct. 23, a step toward splitting the roughly 2,150 square metre (half acre) property in half by owner Vanderveen Acquisitions Inc.

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In addition to the Elgin County submission, an application has been submitted to Dutton Dunwich to rezone 269 Shackleton St. for higher density “to permit the construction of two eight-unit apartment dwellings” that would be three-storeys tall.

Free Press attempts to reach officials with Vanderveen Acquisitions Inc. were not successful.

The construction of the two buildings would also see the demolition of an old carriage house on the property.

Ford said the rally to preserve “Bill Flum’s house” is two-fold.

“One, because it’s of historical significance, and two, because Bill was such a nice guy everybody knew,” Ford said. “He took care of it, and everybody saw him take care of it.”

As the Ontario government looks to build more homes to address a provincewide housing crisis, Ford acknowledged that “housing is an issue,” but said that other land was available for high-density housing.

Welch noted several concerns she and others opposed to the proposal have apart from the destruction of the 269 Shackleton St. home and the accompanying carriage house.

In her correspondence with The Free Press, Welch pointed out the neighbourhood would lose the property’s large sprawling green space along with its maple and oak trees. She also cited pre-existing water-drainage problems and the proximity of the proposed buildings to a neighbouring property.

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“What are our rights as citizens since this construction will definitely change the nature of our neighbourhood?” Welch stated. “We purchased our homes on quiet streets in Dutton because it was a small rural community which leant itself to a healthy existence and peaceful enjoyment of our properties.”

A public hearing is scheduled on Nov. 27 at 5:15 p.m. where Dutton Dunwich politicians will consider a zoning bylaw amendment.

bwilliams@postmedia.com

@BrianWatLFPress

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada

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