This House is Moving Up in the World The Redman House, near the hamlet of Kinsale in north Pickering, is soon to become the core of the Museum's new program centre. Built by Thomas Redman in the 1850s, it was home to Thomas, his wife Susan and their ten children until the 1880s. This solidly-built clapboard farmhouse was the centre of a farm that included several barns, stables, worksheds, an orchard, gardens, fields and a woodlot. Shortly after the house was built, the buildings and 150 acres of land were evaluated at $6000. Typical of the time, the house formed an ell with bedrooms, parlour and dining room in the main storey-and-a-half section at the front with the large kitchen in the rear single storey wing. Stones for the rubble stone foundation would have come from the fields of the farm as they were turned up by plowing. The cellar, excavated under the main part of the house, provided for cold storage of preserves, meats and dairy products before the days of refrigeration. An open fireplace in the large parlour, as well as wood-burning stoves provided heat for the cold winter months. The fireplace, built-in cabinets and open-beamed ceiling in the parlour will be preserved in its new setting at the Pickering Museum Village. This is a joint project of the City of Pickering and the Pickering Museum Village Foundation.
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