Heron by the Bay Vacation Rental Home

History of the House

The house was built by Amos Fleet for his sister Salome and her husband Hezekiah Cooke about 1896 –1898.

They had 8 children; Ernest, Bruce, Allen, Clifford, Hazel, Clara, Francis, and Stella. The present owner, Neil Boutilier, is the grandson of Clifford Cooke. All of their children and many of their grandchildren were born in the house and many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren still live in the area.

Hezekiah (nicknamed Kiah) cut logs from his woodlot and shipped them to England to be used as pit props in the coal mines. He was also a farmer, fisherman, and the local postmaster from 1926 until his death in 1929. The post office was located in the kitchen of the house in a small area walled off in the corner to the right of the stove.

One of the first telephones in the area was also located in this house.

Salome, (nicknamed Lomey) took over as postmaster after Hezekiah’s death and ran the post office until 1945 when Clifford’s wife Jessie took it over and ran it from their house next door until 1950 when it moved to its present location in Hubbards.

Salome was also the organist at St. George’s Anglican Church (located about 1 mile down the road) for many years. She loved to play cards and music, so the house was always a busy place with card games and board games, and dances held in the kitchen to the sounds of the pump organ and fiddle.
After her death in 1955, the house was owned by her son Allen, who lived here with his family until 1956 when he sold it to Irene Randall of Halifax who used it as a summer residence and rented it out to various families.

In 1979 Fred and Phyllis Boutilier (daughter of Clifford) purchased the house from Mrs. Randall and did many repairs to the house to get it weather tight.

In 1998 the house was bought by Karen and Neil Boutilier (son of Phyllis) who took on the 5-year project of renovating the house which by this time had been vacant for over 20 years.

We kept the outside close to the original look but added the decks for places to sit and relax outside. We put a basement under the kitchen to have a place for the furnace, central-vac and water tank, and some room for storage. Inside we removed some walls and moved others, changing the pantry and half of a bedroom into the bathroom/ laundry room and opening up the living room by removing two doorways. Upstairs, we added a washroom, removed a closet and added a loft to the master bedroom.

The house was completely insulated, wired and plumbed to today’s standards. We gave it the name “Heron by the Bay” in the Spring of 2003 and opened it for rentals in July of that year. We sincerely hope you enjoy your stay at the Heron.

Karen & Neil Boutilier