By Melanie Jacob
Journal Editor
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It arrived by train shipment in 1917. It has weathered every storm, every winter, and every spring for nearly a century and still remained strong. In 97 years, it has seen the coming and going of only two families and for the first time since it was built, the old Eaton Catalogue house east of Annaheim will be moved to a new location.
"I was driving from Lake Lenore last summer and the road was closed due to construction and I was diverted to a smaller grid road," said Matt Sherry, the gentleman who recently bought the old house. "I drove by this old farm yard and it was all grown over. In the midst of this growth was this beautiful old Eaton house."
Eaton Catalogue houses were just that: houses ordered from the catalogue. The parts were usually shipped via rail and then built on site. Not many of them are left standing and many that are have fallen into disrepair.
This particular house was first bought and then built by John and Mary Freyling in 1917, who eventually passed it down to the next generation, Agnes and Frank Freyling. In 1955, the house and its land were sold to the Pollreis family, who lived in it until 1986. For the next 10 years, they continued to farm the land and maintain the property, but eventually even that had to come to an end as well. They sold it all in 2004.
"It was in very good shape when we bought it," said Sharon Saliken, the oldest child of the Pollreis family. "The house was ahead of its time. It was only after I got married in 1964 that they made changes and renovations."
Despite the year it was built, the house had a 32-volt charge coming from big green glass batteries that operated the lights and the fridge. After regular power was put in, the house was also able to claim a deep freeze.
In terms of amenities, Saliken recalls having to bring pails of water upstairs to the galvanized tub in order to take a bath. In fact, she still has the tub and the enamel mug they used at her cottage.
They had a large cast iron furnace lined with bricks sitting in the basement and in the fall, they'd have to get coal from St. Gregor. Without coal, she remembers helping to bring in chopped wood, throwing it down a chute to the basement, and then having to go down and restack them all over again.
Despite all the hard work, Saliken says she remembers all of the good times too.
"We had a lot of fun there," she said. "I remember there were all these rooms you could play hide and seek in. I remember the third step that always creaked when you tried to sneak upstairs."
As with any place that's been lived in, it was more than just a shelter for a family; it became home for the Pollreis family. After being used to living in a much smaller abode, having so much room was a novelty for them. Eventually, many memories became associated with that home.
"I remember the quiet. We weren't a very loud family," Saliken says with a small smile. "I could smell mum's baking. She was a great, fantastic cook. There was lots of laughter and homemade sausage and buns and homemade chicken."
"I can also smell the earth from the potatoes in the basement," she continued. "The sounds of water trickling into the cistern in the basement on a rainy day made you want to just go and relax. I can even hear the banging of the doors; there were so many of them."
For Saliken, these memories are just the tip of the iceberg. After she left though, her younger brother was instrumental in making a lot of changes. Some of the walls were ripped out and the cupboards on the first floor were changed. The wide baseboards on the main floor were replaced with mahogany. The upper floor was left untouched except for a new paint job.
"We were passing by when I saw him working and I went up and asked him why he was covering my paint job," Saliken said with a laugh. "Matt scraped off the new paint and now it's back to the original colour."
It was only by chance that Saliken and her husband happened to be passing by on a day when Sherry was working to restore the house to its former glory. It was also only by chance that this entire situation took place in the first place.
"It was serendipity. The owner had just closed the deal with the neighbour and was selling the land and the house," said Sherry. "The neighbour was selling a corresponding piece of land and the house was going to be demolished."
As luck would have it, Sherry happened along at the right moment and everyone was happy. Sherry said he had been looking for a restoration project like this for the last four or five years until this gem fell into his lap. While it's not the first Eaton house he's come across, it is the first one in such good condition. Thanks to the plumbing updates and the electricity being left on by the Pollreis family, the house was modernized and structurally sound. Moreover, it's a tall house that doesn't require any power lines to be lifted.
"Everything kind of lined up by virtue of its location and the farmers who were going to sell it," said Sherry. "It looks a little old and dirty, but the bones are fantastic. I plan to do a faithful restoration and preserve it for another three generations. I'm hoping it'll be fully restored by its 100th birthday."
This will be Sherry's first attempt at a restoration project like this. He said he's done enough research on Eaton Catalogue homes to do a nice staple restoration so that it looks like it did when it was first completed.
"My wife thinks I'm crazy and the heritage society gal thinks I'm enthusiastic," said Sherry. "All it needs is a nice big investment so it can stand for another 100 years. It's probably not a wise investment, but it's a family one."
Considering Sherry is going to be moving it to a family spot at Lake Lenore, it seems the house will enjoy a few more generations of love at least.
For Saliken and her mom, they're just happy the house is going to stay standing and get the love it deserves.
"I miss the quietness most; no TV or vehicles ripping by, just beautiful quietness," she said.
