The camera catches a glimpse of Ella Holubowich as she checks out the Coady house miniature, created by her relatives, Bob and Noreen Hickman of Maynard, Massachusetts. The miniature is modeled after the home North Wiltshire, P.E.I., home of Bill and Mary Coady, as it was in the 1930s and ’40s and was recently donated to the Bedeque Historical Museum. Photo by Colin MacLean /Journal PioneerArticle contentSUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — In the P.E.I. countryside, there is a house.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentIn this house, the table is set for tea, with blueberries and cake.Article contentArticle contentThere is enough bread dough to feed a small army rising in buckets in a corner of the kitchen.Article contentA stack of aged firewood sits in a box by the door, within reach of the stove.Article contentA faded family portrait stands in a frame on a piano in the sitting room.Article contentArticle contentA lady’s delicate pink toiletry set sits idle on the dresser.Article content Many of the items and furniture in the Coady house miniature were hand-made by Bob Hickman. Photo by Colin MacLean /Journal PioneerArticle contentA well-used sewing room, stuffed with garment boxes, overlooks the barnyard through lace curtains.Article contentThe more you look through the house, the more intricate little details you notice.Article content“Little” being the operative word.Article contentThis is the North Wiltshire home of Bill and Mary Coady, almost exactly as it looked in the early part of the 20th Century – reproduced in miniature model form.Article content A entryway and hallway from the Coady house miniature. Photo by Colin MacLean /Journal PioneerArticle contentIt’s part of a new permanent exhibit, recently unveiled by the Bedeque Historical Museum.Article contentDoug Sobey, president of the Bedeque Area Historical Society, said he jumped at the chance to bring to bring the Coady house miniature to the Island when the family of its creator offered it up.Article content“As soon as I saw her email, June 5 of last year, offering it to a P.E.I. museum, I thought ‘We’ve got to have that in Bedeque,’” said Sobey.Article content Doug Sobey, president of the Bedeque Area Historical Society said he jumped at the chance for the Bedeque Historical Museum to feature the lovingly recreated model of a P.E.I. farmhouse, created by Bob and Noreen Hickman of Maynard, Mass. Photo by Colin MacLean /Journal PioneerArticle contentThrough the eyes of a childArticle contentThe model was created years ago by Bob and Noreen Hickman of Maynard, Mass.Article contentNoreen was an Islander by birth whose family relocated to the U.S. when she was a child.Article contentArticle contentBut P.E.I. remained close to her heart for all her life, as she grew up spending every summer throughout the 1930s and ’40s with extended family on the Island, including her aunt and uncle at the Coady house.Article content The Coady house of North Wiltshire, P.E.I. as it appeared around 1970. The house was the model used to create a miniature representation of itself. Photo by Colin MacLean /Journal PioneerArticle contentLater in life, Noreen and Bob took up model home building as a joint hobby and created many examples of this intricate art form. One of which was a copy of the Coady house, which was the site of so many happy memories for Noreen.Article contentThe couple used measurements of the actual house, old photos and shared family memory to recreate the home and barnyard as accurately as they could, down to the pictures on the walls and the placement of the hand-made miniature furniture.Article content“It’s where her joy was,” said daughter Ginger Gordon, who travelled from Clinton, Mass., for the recent ribbon-cutting of the exhibit. “This is where she spent every summer, this is where her family was.”Article content Ginger Gordon, daughter of Bob and Noreen Hickman, recently visited P.E.I. from Massachusetts for the unveiling of a new exhibit at the Bedeque Historical Museum. The display features a miniature model, built by her parents, of the P.E.I. farmhouse her mother visited as a child in the 1930s and 40s. Photo by Colin MacLean /Journal PioneerArticle contentGordon was not alone in travelling to see the exhibit; relatives from far and wide, including Boston, Ottawa and Toronto, made the trek to Bedeque for the unveiling, and there was a small crowd of them on hand.
American family donates late parents’ handmade model P.E.I. farmhouse to Bedeque Museum
