The Kingston area is well known for its rich history, and there are many people who work hard in order to preserve it.
One of those people is Gus Panageotopoulos, who recently won an award for his work in preserving his 200-year-old home in Bath, Ont.
Panageotopoulos was one of the two recipients of this year’s Certificate of Commendation from the Frontenac Heritage Foundation, which recognizes heritage homeowners in the region who are primarily responsible for the concept, implementation, and financing of the conservation effort.
“When this property came up for sale about 12 years ago, and when I walked through the front door, I felt a sense of home and comfort,” Panageotopoulos says. “I fell in love with it.”
Restoring heritage buildings can be difficult, and they are typically very slow-moving projects. There are only a handful of qualified historical tradespeople in the Kingston area, and they don’t use power tools in order to keep their work authentic.
“We are fortunate that we found measured drawings that were done in the 1930s by Dr. Eric Arthur Students, who was a professor of architecture at (University of Toronto),” he says. “So these drawings gave insight to what the front facade really looked like.”
Restoring historic buildings is no easy task — it is a long, arduous process that requires dedication and commitment.
“I’m just the custodian of this property,” Panageotopoulos says. “It’s a responsibility, when you have a property like this, to care for it.”
Panageotopoulos’ home. also known as the Davy House, received the award from the Frontenac Heritage Foundation, along with a limestone farmhouse on Bath Road that was built over 150 years ago.
Normally, the foundation gives out more than two awards each year, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, they were forced to cancel their awards gala. So they decided to shave the number down to two and made feature video pieces on each winner.
“We just didn’t want to let a year go by without any awards,” says Shirley Bailey, president of the Frontenac Heritage Foundation.
The foundation has been giving out these awards since 1982 to both heritage homeowners and the tradespeople who work on the projects.
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