The House on the Hill - The profile of 144 Byron Avenue & the Lussier-Zinni family

The June 2019 issue of the Kitchissippi Times is a special issue focusing on the 100th Anniversary of Wellington Village! I'm excited to have been able to contribute to several parts of the issue, and to a bunch of other things happening in the neighbourhood this month!

One of my contributions to the Times this month is for the feature column "Who Lives Here", which is part of the Home & Family section of the Times. For a long time it was written by Shaun Markey, a well-known local writer and antiques expert, but Shaun stepped away from the column within the last few months, so the opportunity presented itself for me to have a chance to write the column this month. It was fun to do, and in the process reconnected with a family who I'd spoke with a couple of years ago when they had reached out for some history help. Alison Zinni and her husband Eric Lussier live in the unique house halfway up the Byron Avenue hill at Granville Avenue, at its steepest point. It's a frustrating hill to try to climb on an icy morning, and I know has presented challenges going back nearly 200 years or more. In 1899 when they were putting in the streetcar line out to Britannia, they had to blast through the hill in order to provide a level run for the trains (there would have been no way they would have been able to gain the required momentum to go up and over it). So as a result, we now have the 'school bus park' inside of what was once a big hill. Going back further than that, I can imagine the hill was probably a pain for the Stewart farming family, or perhaps a fun place to play for the kids and grandkids that grew up on the property (oh to have a time machine, or to be given a guided tour of the property by one of the 19th century Stewarts!). 

But back to 2019, the house was one of the first built in the area, and was meticulously maintained by the Schroeder family for over 80 years, and has now been the Lussier-Zinni family home for the past 10 years. My article brings together the past and present, and highlights the unique features of the house, the fantastic renovations and upgrades made by Alison and Eric, and the online edition features a ton of photos of the family and their home. 

Please check it out at: https://kitchissippi.com/2019/06/03/house-on-the-hill

Ottawa Citizen, June 29, 1929