newfoundland
Stop No. 3: The Thomas Mouland House in Bonavista. This is in the Mockbeggar neighborhood of a larger town of 3,000 residents. It's a very old and authentic setting, where pubs and the fish plant are a five-minute walk away. This vernacular structure is known as a biscuit box house. It was saved by The Bonavista Historic Townscape, an organization that fixes up the exteriors of the homes (windows, trim, roofs, etc.) and then transfers them to the private sector.
Stop No. 2: The E.J. Sooley House in Heart's Delight. Sooley and his business partner and sister, Sharon Nisbet, grew up visiting this house of their grandfather's, E.J. Sooley, but had lost interest in it as teenagers. Later, when the house was left to them and had become quite dilapidated, they decided to restore it back to its original spirit, counting on their memories to help them get it right. This is how CapeRace began.
Today we are taking a different kind of Houzz Tour: one that's about a different kind of vacation. And along the way we'll be touring three charming cottages on the Canadian coast. An eco-friendly tour company called CapeRace Cultural Adventures has carefully renovated these Newfoundland cottages to feel like home and retain the souls of the original structures. Guests get the keys to a van and three coastal homes, and they stay in each one for three nights. Each cottage is in a markedly different place. CapeRace also provides a unique guidebook for "the curious traveler" full of suggestions for hikes and historic sites, and hints about where to meet local people and have authentic Newfoundland experiences.
Old ripped wallpaper from the house becomes artwork over the bed; that's actually an empty frame mounted over a small area of the paper that is still on the wall. The cabinet was taken from another one of their properties, The Anchor House. Nisbet says, "the lady who owned the house before us liked to dabble in painting everything!"
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