South Okanagan renovator discovers historical community treasure
When Oliver resident Craig Konechny purchased an abandoned, uninhabitable family home on Kootenay Street in mid December he initially saw it as a massive renovation challenge, but progressing through the tattered interior, uncovering the bones of the building, he’s discovering it’s much more than just a house.
Built in 1941, the Buddy Taft house holds a special place in the hearts of community members who have been reaching out to Konechny sharing stories, memories and old photographs of it.
“It’s crazy the amount of reaction from the community, I had no idea when we looked at the house originally, the realtor told us a little bit about it,” he said.
Originally from Cold Lake, Alberta, Konechny and his wife moved to Oliver three years ago where they have been renting, and purchased the house through a court ordered sale on Dec. 18.
Konechny has done renovations before and flipped a few houses in Cold Lake.
“This place came on the market, so we had a look and I felt it would be a fun project, would allow me to be creative and redesign stuff and it would be a challenge too,” he said.
After making a social media post about the purchase and the project, Konechny received hundreds of comments and is putting the pieces of the home’s history together with local lore and Oliver museum archives.
Buddy Taft built the house with his dad in 1941.
“The realtor said Buddy was a showman, he did ballet and he travelled across Canada,” Konechny said. “Then he went to the war and when he came back, moved here and created a dance studio in the living room.
“There are a ton of people in town who went to this house every week for dance lessons for years. I have people coming up to me saying in 1952 me and my girlfriend took ballet lessons in that front living room, it’s just been a million stories.”
Buddy was known for dancing at retirement homes.
“People tell me he’d teach dance at the homes and anybody who was walking by he’d grab and make them dance for a couple of minutes, it sounds like he had a huge personality.”
A woman from Surrey sent Konechny a picture of herself with Buddy she keeps on her mantel.
“That says a lot for someone to have a photo of a fellow who passed away almost three decades ago," he said. "The photo shows him further in age, he has a huge bowtie and pink outfit.”
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At some point Buddy’s niece moved into the home and when he passed away she inherited it.
“She had been a legal secretary in the area and from talking to the neighbours she had a mental illness and wouldn’t let anyone in the house. Cats and critters were allowed to go in and out.
The home fell into shambles and the niece passed away a year ago.
Konechny wears a full protective gear while renovating as he removes old pieces to get to the studs and floor joists, which he said are solid.
“It’s a sad ending to the house but it invoked a lot of memories with people all the way from 1940 and onward,” he said.
While the house is too young to have interesting heritage architecture to preserve, there's a fireplace and rock chimney Konechny will keep.
“When I took over the house it was covered in vines, the trunk at the base was four inches in diameter so you couldn’t even see the chimney,” he said. “I removed the vines and it was incredible how in perfect condition the chimney was, usually vines destroy the grout.”
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Konechny said he will do his best to restore the house and keep connection with the community, with a longer term goal of putting together a coffee table book about its history.
“This isn’t just a house, it’s connected to a lot of memories and it had an arts component and I’m such a strong supporter and believer of what arts do for a community and the foundation it sets, that’s why this house resonates with me," he said.
Go here to follow along on the renovation project at the Buddy Taft house.
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