We drive past this house all the time on our way back to our own home, and it never fails to turn our heads… but since it was decked out even more than usual today in honour of Canada Day, we decided to stop and take a picture.
(Clicking on the photo will take you to a larger version on Flickr.)
While I was snapping photos of the outside of the house, my husband was chatting (as is his wont) with the owner of the place, who happened to be sitting outside with his family and who very kindly offered us a tour of the inside of the house.
Wow!
You think the outside is dramatic?! The inside is a completely over the top, amazing, kitschy in a fascinating way, maple-leaf-and-Canadian-flag labour of love. Dan (the owner of the house) said that he didn’t mind if I took pictures, but I hardly knew where to begin! Every surface that could be painted was done up in red and white with maple leaf accents, and every surface that could accommodate some bit of Canadiana did… flags, Mounties, totems, beavers, military memorabilia, framed newspaper articles, and so on.
(Clicking on the photo will take you to a larger version on Flickr.)
What a fantastic experience!
Unfortunately my camera battery was dying and I wasn’t able to get too many photos, but I did manage to capture this one – a copy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – which was rather apropos, I thought, considering the day.
(Clicking on the photo will take you to a larger version on Flickr.)
As we left, Dan gave each of us a souvenir of our tour – a silver totem pole keychain – and we left with huge smiles on our faces.
(Clicking on the photo will take you to a larger version on Flickr.)
Happy Canada Day!
