Miniature village hidden in Ingersoll, Ont. sparks community curiosity
A hidden village of miniature homes and buildings, nestled along a creek in Ingersoll, has piqued the interest of residents for decades.
The small structures have sparked questions over the years like who put them there and why?
The answer lies with Linda Huntley. Her parents lived on the property and together began building the village in the 1980s.
“They built a church, and they built a school, and then every year they just continued to build different buildings,” Huntley told CTV News.
Each little cabin is just a few feet wide by a few feet high. The village grew year after year. In 1992, Huntley’s father built a railroad that ran through the backyard, and it didn’t stop there.
As the number of little buildings grew, so did the community interest.
“I don't know, it just got opened up that people wanted to come here and tour, so Mom, when she would be home, Dad would still be working, so when people would come, and she'd show them all through,” she said.
The building stopped when Huntley’s mother died. It was tough for her father to keep up the creativity.
“He was pretty depressed actually, and then he decided he can't do this anymore without her here. So then the railway stopped, and then the carousel stopped,” Huntley said.
Linda Huntley holds up a photo of her dad building one of the small cabins. (CTV News/Spencer Turcotte)
Huntley’s father is gone now too, yet all their labours of love still are still alive and thriving.
It’s all thanks to the new homeowner Steve Puffer. He understands how much it means to the community.
“Pretty much just replacing whatever rots out if we can. If it's salvageable we'll do it,” said Puffer. “People would stop by and tell me the history of it, and apparently as a kid I came here on a field trip.”
Puffer hopes to not only keep the village going, but to eventually add to it. So even with the creators long gone, their creations live on.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.