KENSINGTON, P.E.I. — Her favourite thing about her new home is the Victorian doorbells.

Visitors ring an actual bell by turning a little knob on the front door. In the digital age, it is an act both endearingly archaic and deeply satisfying.

Olivia Kelly, 24, can’t help but smile when she hears that bell. On the days when she is feeling frustrated, it reminds her that she and her husband, Zach, 29, are now the caretakers of something special.

“I love those. That’s my favourite part,” she said with a laugh.

Read more Restoration of Province House in P.E.I. reaches major milestone Summerside newcomers document Victorian home restoration adventure with YouTube channel

Restoration of Province House in P.E.I. reaches major milestone

Summerside newcomers document Victorian home restoration adventure with YouTube channel

The Kellys are the new owners of 74 Victoria St. W. in Kensington. They purchased the property last year while they were still living in the Niagara area of Ontario but only arrived on the Island a month ago.

The three-bedroom house is a registered heritage building from the Victorian era, built in the Gothic revival style. It’s estimated to be 127 years old and is full of little flourishes of design and architecture that have become so uncommon in modern times. In short, they don't build’em like they used to.

But nothing lasts forever, and when the Kellys took possession of the property they quickly realized it was in serious need of repair and renovation. They are now in the midst of a significant reconstruction project, which Zach, a carpenter by trade, will be working at full-time for the foreseeable future.

They’ve been keeping their family back home and their new community appraised of their efforts through their Facebook page.

Every day of hard work brings some new challenge or discovery for them, and while the endeavour has been mentally and physically exhausting, they consider it worth it for the sake of their future and that of a home that was in need of saving.

It is, however, not a project they ever intended to undertake.

I recently visited Olivia and Zach Kelly at their #VictorianEra heritage home in Kensington #PEI. They are in the midst of a major renovation project and are trying to restore the house. Their favourite thing about it (and mine too now) are these cool mechanical doorbells.🤯 pic.twitter.com/tmWMxHcfdZ

A little more than a year ago, the Kellys were living in Ontario and trying to decide what their future looked like.

They were not tied to that province. Olivia is originally from British Columbia and Zach is from the United Kingdom, though he had lived in Ontario since childhood.

Out-of-control housing prices, crime rates and a desire to escape the urban rat race for a more small-town lifestyle were all factors in their desire to find a new place to start over.

“Neither of us were very keen on Ontario. Neither of us are from there, and neither of us could see raising a family there,” recalled Olivia.

Their decision was made a little easier when Zach’s father made one of his own – he bought a home in Miscouche, P.E.I., and will be making his own move to the Island in a few weeks. Olivia also has extended family on the Island and fond memories of visiting here as a child.

Once they had decided on a province to settle in, they started looking for a house, preferably something they could put some sweat equity into.

They chose 74 Victoria St. W.

“I think we were looking for a fixer-upper just to keep the budget a little lower … we weren’t necessarily thinking of such a big project, but when we saw (the house), the size of it, the location and the history behind it, we kind of fell in love with it,” said Olivia.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and other commitments, the couple purchased the home without setting foot in it. In fact, it was almost a year between when their bid was accepted and when they first saw it in person for the first time.

Once they got inside, they quickly realized it needed far more work than they had originally believed.

“It was like – oh no. Wow, this is going to be a big job,” said Zach. “That was a pretty bad day when we showed (up) and it was like ‘oh no, we have to gut the place.’”

“(Zach) pulled me together,” added Olivia. “He was there to reassure me and suggest that we take some rest … and we’ll come at it with a fresh set of eyes in the morning.”

The previous owners had started some renovation work on the home, but it had been mostly unoccupied for more than 30 years.

The couple had intended to live in one part of the house while renovating another, but, given the state of the structure, they decided their best option was to completely strip the interior of all but the most unique of features and start from scratch.

They have been living off-site while they work towards getting the house ready for winter. Zach spends his days renovating while Olivia helps as much as she can. She has also secured full-time work in her field, youth education.

“It’s back and forth. Some days we’re very happy with how far we’ve come and other days we feel the time crunch. There’s those moments of, ‘yeah, we shouldn’t have done this.’ Just, you know, frustrations because things get tricky,” said Olivia.

“You start to panic and worry that you made the wrong decision but compared to what it was when we moved in, it feels cleaner, it feels more spacious and you know the work is getting done right when … you can do everything yourself,” added Zach.

Once they had decided to commit to their new home, the couple rolled up their sleeves and got to work.

“We spent those first couple of weeks just working our butts off,” said Olivia.

“We filled a 21-foot dumpster with all the plaster and lath and all the flooring. There was about eight layers of vinyl flooring over top of one another and newspaper,” added Zach.

When they stripped the walls they discovered there was no insulation anywhere in the house. The floors had multiple layers of vinyl and wood in some places, some of which hid sealed hatches into the basement crawl space. They also found two disused brick chimneys that had been covered for some reason, in one case with fake brick.

People make do with what they have. So, in many cases, the Kellys have been finding problems that should have been removed or repaired but were just covered over and hidden from view. It has made for some interesting finds.

While working around one of the chimneys Zach found two P.E.I. license plates from the 1920s, which had been nailed in to cover a hole. They had originally planned to keep them as mementoes, but after posting about them on their Facebook page the couple got so many offers from enthusiastic plate collectors looking to buy them that they decided to sell them and put the money towards the renovations.

A post shared by The Big Blue House Project (@thebigbluehouseproject)

They also found a small black and white photo of three young children around a wagon and stacks of lumber. No one they have asked about the image has so far been able to identify the photo, but they would be interested to know more about it.

The previous owners also left behind boxes of items originally from the home, so they have been slowly going through those, sifting for interesting things they will keep.

Zach expects to have enough of the work done by winter that they will be able to move in and live on the first floor, which will give him time to keep working on the second floor.

The couple’s first foray into home ownership has not been easy, but they are willing to put in the work.

“As long as I’ve got (Zach), we can handle anything,” said Olivia.

“This is our one shot at having a family home and being able to afford to have a family and kids – anywhere else I don’t think we’d be able to do it,” added Zach

“We’ve gotten this far,” she said.

Colin MacLean is a reporter with the SaltWire Network in Prince Edward Island. He can be reached by email at [email protected]  and followed on Twitter @JournalPMacLean. 

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