The Epicentre

The early stages of my Method requires complete reconstruction - at least as complete as physically possible. To that end we've taken the time to record the actual size of the House for recreation sessions back at the classroom. Now, I could rely on the most recent architectural drawings available, however I've found that it's beneficial for the team to spend as much time as possible being physically present at each discovery site. It aids the Method to have this familiarity with the origin of the material.

The following clip is of the team working to measure the basement of the House. In itself not a noteworthy event, however during those measurements we experienced a small, but significant, incident. Ms. Lahde swears that it was not Mr. Cade's comeuppance for his previous indiscretion.




From here on in, I will endeavor to record all of the team's discoveries, and excursions, in the basement. Our evidence seems to be leading us down there more and more and it appears to be the epicentre of this particular discovery.

Our ground-zero, if you will.

The farther back we go...

Strangely enough, the further we go into the House's history the more information becomes available. This House is definitely unique.

This picture of two boys was taken around 1911. I believe the boys are in a room in the southeast corner of the basement of the House. They are identified on the back of the photo as Thomas (in the chair) and Edward, their last name is unknown.




The next picture, circa 1914, is of (from left) Mary Kean and Ruth Lewis. Mary and Ruth were sisters (Kean was Mary's married name) and were employed as midwives at the House when it was a clinic. The boys are Mary's sons, William and Samuel - their father's whereabouts are unknown. What's interesting is the girl, who is completely unknown. She appears in a number of photos in the archival files but this is the best image we have of her. She's always holding that doll. Even on the back of this photo it lists the people as Mary Kean, Ruth Lewis, William and Samuel Kean, and a girl.

Simply "a girl." Curious.

A Young Couple

It appears that the most recent residents of the House were a young couple. All the artifacts support this conclusion - yet it is unclear exactly when they inhabited it. The family in the next house over (the Boland family) has no recollection of a couple living beside them, and yet they assure me they have lived there continuously for the past 17 years.

There are some clues to be found among the artifacts I found. The existence of Item DSCN0250 (see previous post) suggests that the couple occupied the House some time after 1971, which was when that technology was made commercially available – although it was not widely used by the public until around 1982. We can narrow our time frame further as Item DSCN0244 (see previous post) was not available until 1985 and removed from circulation in 1996. This does not mean that it wasn’t purchased prior to 1996 and saved for a “special occasion.”

What can be concluded, then, is that the last inhabitants of the House likely arrived sometime after 1985 (certainly no earlier than 1982). It’s unclear at this point how long they stayed.

Obviously further investigation is required.

Further Archival Research

The TA's have discovered more evidence of the House's history. This image was found in an undated file in Toronto's archival records. The precise historical timeline of the House is still unclear, but it appears that at some point the House was some form of pediatric clinic. Census and birth records will need to be pulled to support this conclusion.



Judging from the layout, this would have been part of the dining room, just off the kitchen.

Exploration into the basement

Our initial explorations of the House yielded several encouraging finds (some of which have been previously posted). In this footage the team investigates the basement of the House for the first time. This site is rapidly becoming the most fruitful find to date. I'm postponing all of my other active sites to dedicate myself solely to this discovery.

As you will see in the video, the actions of Mr. Cade on this particular day showed a distinct lack of professionalism and respect for the site and fellow team members. I must admit, after this incident, I questioned whether I had made the right decision in taking James on. My instincts have since proven true and any doubts about Cade have been completely alleviated, but I felt it was prudent to log the episode. At the very least Mr. Cade will have a reminder of how far he has come and how much he still has to learn.

First Impressions

This video was taken during the TA's first visit to the House a couple of weeks ago. I had told them nothing about the House itself, or anything of the setting in which we would be working, with the intent of obtaining their unbiased first impressions. Unfortunately, the visit had to be cut short due to Ms. Lahde's epistaxis.

A list of what's left.

Item DSCN0244.
One wine bottle. Empty. Red.

Item DSCN0246.
A bouquet of flowers, long dead,
bundled by a length of electrical wire.
Bluebells. Morning Glory. Dandelions.
Daffodils. Daisies.

Item DSCN0250.
Video recording, partial. Condition poor.