Today it's just another home

A photographer with whom I once worked at the daily newspaper in London retired to Strathroy. This beautiful home is located just a few doors down from where my friend lives. I took this picture from my friend's driveway.

It didn't take much searching to discover something on the Web about this large, striking home. The following is from The Strathroy Historical Society Facebook site.

This stately mansion was built by Cyris Bixel in 1889. Cyris moved to Canada from Germany with his father, Matthew and the rest of the Bixel family in 1874. On moving to Strathroy, the Bixels founded the Bixel Brewery and from the size of the home Cyris built it is clear that the brewery was a success.

The home originally had 14 “very large” rooms. There was a drawing room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, Pantry, china and cutlery room, conservatory, library, front foyer, two bedrooms, and a servant’s bedroom plus two bathrooms. It is surprising that such a large home originally  had only three bedrooms.

After Cyris died in 1895, his wife Emily married Duncan Campbell Ross who went on to become a member of Parliament for the area. In 1922 when Ross was made an Elgin County court judge, he and Emily moved from the grand home but the mansion stayed in the family until 1957. When the place was sold in 1957, the new owners made some changes to home's layout. For instance, the home gained an additional bedroom.