In the mid 1950’s Kenneth Rutledge, the baby of 9 siblings and his older sister Susan were sent to stay summers up north from Streetsville where he was born and raised to a working farm in Paisley Ontario.

Ken and Susan spent many summers with an elderly couple by the name of Jack and Ida Jenkins up on their 100-acre cattle farm. There was no electricity or running water, all food was grown and prepared at home, and Jack and Ida made sure that both did their fair share of chores as there was much to do everyday just to keep themselves and the cattle fed.

Ken’s fondest memories are of those summers at the Jenkins farm. He had an extremely strong emotional and spiritual attachment to Jack and Ida as they provided him with all the things he lacked and was denied growing up in Streetsville. Jack and Ida provided stability, love, manners, prayers, and safety from a home that was less than stable growing up.

When I met Ken in the 1980’s he would tell me many stories about the Paisley farm. We would often take drives up to see it and have picnic lunches in the long grasses as the Jenkins had long since passed away and farm fell into disrepair. It was a shame that the farm had been left to young grandchildren back in the city that didn’t appreciate its true value. Ken longed for that place. He always felt that he was at home and safe when we went there and then the year before we were to be married, Ken approached the 3 grandchildren and offered to buy their share of the farm. They were more than happy to make the deal as they had no idea what to do with an abandoned farm in Paisley, Ontario. So, in the Fall of 1987, with a loan from my dad, we bought Lot 27 on Bruce-Saugeen Townline Road 11, a 100-acre farm for $27,000 which we ultimately paid back my dad with our wedding money in 1988.

Ken quickly went to work bringing up his construction equipment from the city to start clearing away 30 years of overgrowth. The old house and barn were still standing and in very bad condition but there were many valuable memories and keepsakes inside both.

Then, in the early spring of 1991, we received a call in the middle of the night from the Kincardine OPP that some young boys had gone into the house to drink and party and decided to light the house on fire. We lost the whole house…it was tragic. What was more tragic is that the vehicle that the young men were driving left tire marks from our burning farmhouse right to their front door but there was nothing we could do.

That summer, the barn fell, and Ken brought up more construction equipment and dismantled it so as to save the beams. Our plans were to put them into the house that we wanted to build. Unfortunately, over the winter while we were at home in Oakville, all the beams were stolen including the old water pump. We once again lost everything made of memories.

Our goal was to eventually rebuild but opportunity came knocking the following year and Ken was able to negotiate and purchase the parcel of land to the east of our property from Lloyd and Christina Gibson approx. 110 acres beside he railtrail and the year after that we purchased the 100-acre parcel to the west of us from the Smiths that borders Glen Cumming Side Road.

Wow, now we had 310 acres (Lots 26,27,28,29) and Ken was never short of plans on what he wanted to build and do with all of it.

There was a beautiful creek and valley that were overgrown, and he started to clear the lower lands with plans of building my dad a golf course. He and my dad had 4 holes all cleared and laid out and we brought the town counsel in to see it and they turned down the idea of our golf course and home most likely because they were in the midst of working on the Westlinks development and golf course, but that didn’t stop him…we were going forward and it was going to be a private course.

We purchased a 35’ house trailer and we situated it up on top of the hill of Lot 26 that looked down into the valley and across the forest. Every morning when we were lucky enough to be at the trailer, Ken would sit on the picnic table and look at the land and decide what he was going to work on that day.

He envisioned kilometers of running trails through the forest for me and the dogs, trails for the dirt bikes that all our nephews and friends would bring up, a golf course for my dad and a beautiful house to sit atop the hill overlooking the valley. Ken would say to me, “Julia, I can’t afford to build you the house yet so I’m going to go a create our backyard”!…all 310 acres of it.

There wasn’t a spare day or hour that went buy that Ken and his crew weren’t up there clearing trails and grooming the valley. At current we have 10 – 15 kilometres of trails that have been used for running races, Olympian equestrian training, trail rides on horseback, dirt bikes, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and horse-led wagon rides.

Many friends and family would visit constantly through out the years, and he was the happiest and proudest when people came to visit. We would all go for rides on the various vehicles we had amassed such as ATV’s, dirt bikes, dune buggies, Argo, utility tractors. Long dusty rides took place on all the kilometers of trails and of course there was always a feast at the end of the day for everyone and anyone. He loved having company so much so that one Labour Day weekend he invited everyone he knew to come up for a picnic and never in a 1000 years would we have imagined that EVERYONE showed up!…we had over 55 people, kids, dogs etc. show up to a trailer on the hill and although completely unprepared, we managed to feed everyone and have one helluva party and the best memory ever.

In 1999 Ken realized that he had too much construction equipment in Paisley and needed to find a barn to rent to store them all. So, I happened to find a Century farmhouse that not only had running water and a flush toilet, but it had a large barn, driveshed and various other buildings to house all his “stuff”. What we didn’t know but finally realized is that this 50 acre farm and farmhouse backed onto our 310 acres in the back bush!…it was perfect in so many ways. We bought it and I started a major clean up of the house and it quickly became the “cottage” in everyone’s life. The farmhouse rocked with parties, family, friends and truly has a special place in so many of our family and friends’ memories.

We were very blessed after 15 years of marriage to welcome our son George into the family in 2003. It was a time of great happiness.

Unfortunately, Ken took sick the summer of 2005 right after our son turned 2yrs old and was diagnosed with malignant lung cancer from asbestos exposure from the many years of working for his brother in the fire door industry.

We lost Ken Christmas Day 2005, and the following years were filled with huge sorrow, angst, and loss. On my part, my husband the dreamer, the planner, the builder was gone and along with him all the plans for the farms and our future. For our son George it has been hard navigating life never having remembered him and yet reminded of him everyday at the farm and wondering what he was really like and what he was planning for all the properties.

In the early years after his death, I would take George for long ATV rides on all our trails and would tell him many stories of the paths Ken was clearing, the people that used to come and visit and the plans of the horse barn, the new house and all the other things we were going to build.

George quickly named the hill that we were planning to build our house on as “Mommy Daddy Hill” as he would hear me tell him of the trailer we had there, the parties we held and the house that we were going to build. Many days he would ask me to take him to “Mommy Daddy Hill” were we would just sit and listen to the wind, look up at he skies and out at the forests dancing in the sunlight. So, the name “Mommy Daddy Hill” has stuck for 15 years and one day we will build that house on the hill overlooking the valley…but I think it will be George doing the building.

The summer of 2023 was a pivotal time of change for me as I left the corporate world and decided to just work on the farm starting to clear trails that Ken had created and were in need of repair. So, what does a girl do? … she goes and buys herself a new John Deere Tractor (of course with a cab so I could have air conditioning, heat, music…and a place for my coffee!) I also bought a series of chainsaws, equipment, a utility trailer, and a big Ford F150 truck and got to work in the forest trails.

It was a time of great contentment and achievement. I felt very connected to the land and Ken and knew it was my time to ignite the dream again. Although it was just me out there, I was making a difference to the way the trails were looking. I started to prepare and clean up a few camp sites and decided to advertise and to my great surprise I got hit after hit of people coming to stay at Rutledge Acres.

At the same time, I hosted a few meditation and yoga retreats at The Old Homestead and everyone who has come has said the same thing, that the place has a special healing energy, and the trails and forests were a pleasure to walk through.

We even hosted a wedding ceremony atop of “Mommy Daddy Hill” and the backdrop was the forest in all its Fall glory of colours. It was a moment that I will never forget as it touched me so deeply that this couple loved this land as much as I did, that it meant something to get married atop the hill that they remembered Ken preparing…and Ken, George and I were beaming proud that day.

So, the dye is cast, I will be carrying on with the plans that Ken had started 20 years ago. I am working with an architect right now to build a horse barn with an exercise area and offering 15 kilometres of groomed trails for riding, it’s a natural fit. I am also working on a “Wellness Center” to be able to offer mediation, yoga, wellness classes and retreats and a place to hold ceremonies of any kind.

Rutledge Acres has so much to offer, and George and I are excited to get it all prepared. We are waiting to welcome everyone to come and enjoy this beautiful property that Ken envisioned but did not have enough time to finish…so we will finish it for him.

We look forward to welcoming you soon.

Julia & George Rutledge Rutledge Acres