Stone Houses - Part 2

Ridley Cottage (1845)
This regency style stone cottage is a rarity in Peterborough.  Built into the hillside, it had a walk out basement kitchen.  I know of just two others, one which is so buried in new construction it looks completely modern, and Hutchison House.  Dr. Robert Ridley built the house for his wife and seven children.  Dr. Ridley died in 1851.  His wife Elizabeth kept a boarding house, and then remarried another doctor, Dr. John McNabb.



The property was purchased in 1921 by the Catholic Diocese of Peterborough, and served as a schoolhouse between the 1930s-1950s.  Sadly, Ridley House was the victim of vandalism several years ago.  The structure was severely compromised, and its future is very uncertain.  Demolition looms as a possibility, but thankfully the building remains for the time being.

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