Billy Bishop Home and Museum
I confess that when I first saw this Victorian house in Owen Sound (on Georgian Bay), I had no idea it was a museum. I wanted to take photos of this place because it looked so interesting with...
Atop the house
a shuttered cupola for a third floor.
Below the cupola
And this lovely dormer on the second floor.
It was only after I had taken a few photos that I noticed the sign that said the house was "the birthplace and childhood home of Billy Bishop, the legendary flying ace who won renown with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force in the First World War."
Porch on the first floor
Truth be told, my knowledge of First World War flying aces was/is sparse, which is not surprising since I distinctly remember a high school history teacher saying she didn't think airplanes were used in that war. (She hadn't yet heard of Snoopy and the Red Baron, I guess.)
Windows to right of porch
But I digress. The sign made Billy Bishop sound like the Canadian equivalent of the Red Baron, having shot down 72 enemy planes which earned him the Victoria Cross.
Bishop must have been quite the daredevil - fearless. There's a story about him at age 15 that claims he built a plane out of wooden crates, cardboard and string and flew off the roof of his house. Apparently he was not injured. Lucky, eh?
Stained glass to right of windows shown above
More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.
31 comments:
This is one beautiful home of a true Canadian hero.
PS: What school did you go to Camera Girl?? :-)
What a beautiful house---worthy of all the photos even before you talk about Billy Bishop. Who does merit a few words....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Bishop_Goes_to_War
How beautiful- I love the windows and the scroll work around them.
It is a beautiful house, so many pretty ornamental details! Great post!
What a terrific house, love the stained glass window. BB is certainly a Canadian legend, he even has an airport in Toronto named after him now!
Not all history teachers are created equal it seems. :)
When viewing such a charming home no doubt filled with the comforts of its era, it IS amazing that Bishop had a zest for flying from the nest at all!
This is wonderful architecture and I love the stain glass window. Interesting post. Margaret
I tried to build a plane once too, but I wasn't as successful.
Remarkable house and a remarkable man. Those houses (and "aces") are not made anymore.
Love all the gingerbread and stained glass. She's a beauty!
What a beautiful place...would love to see this in person. Even if I just saw the outside.
I want a cupola. Fun bit of history in this post.
Darla
ohhhh what a gorgeous house! i want to live there!
Beautiful facade details.
i would love to sit on this porch, wander around inside.. and then stand and stare at those double windows in the second up from bottom.
Victorian architecture is my all time favourite, j'adore every level of this house, merci beaucoup for all the delicious detail EG..
it has beautiful details! my memory for history is almost non-existent. :)
What a lovely, stately old home! ( Museum now of course :)
My eyebrows went up when I read about your history teacher. Not sure if I ever heard of Billy Bishop. Sounds like he would be interesting to read about. I'll check Wikipedia.
What a beautiful old house. It's nice that it's a museum to the history of this famous flyer. I'm amazed your teacher didn't know that they used planes during WW1. Thanks for sharing it with us. I have been to Owen Sound and hubby has a cousin there. It's a very pretty town.
Fun post. Your history teacher was dumb as a rock!
I didn't know Billy was a bishop, I thought he was just a priest. I didn't know that he was fearless. Though I'd expect that of an ace at least.
The house does not look like a museum but it is beautiful!
I had no idea about Billy Bishop, but my husband, who loves history, knew all about him! So I have learned something again today and had the pleasure of seeing an exquisite old home that I can now daydream about living in.
Nice photos of a beautiful old house. Thanks for the history of the place also. Very interesting...
What an appealing home! I love the leaded glass. And the details.
=)
My goodness, this is beautiful! All of that wonderful detail. I just love homes such as these.
I didn't know there was a museum for Billy Bishop but it makes sense since there is a play about him and an airport!
love that cupola, wonder what the view is like up there
and not so lucky for those german pilots he later shot down!
awesome details. what a beauty. ( :
That's a great looking house. I would have photographed it too. I've photographed older houses and didn't even know they were museums until I download the shots and magnified plaques I hadn't noticed so I can relate to that.
I love the story about Billy Bishop flying off his roof in a handmade plane. It kind of reminds me of a documentary on George Mallory that said when he was very young he climbed up the walls of the Church and made it to the roof.
Beautiful home and lovely porch!
Wow! What a house. We have lots of Victorian-era houses in Connecticut, but I can't recall one with this kind of fretwork. Terrific!
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