History & Restoration

The story begins in Devonshire, England. On November 14th, 1836, William Dixon was born and destined for Canada. In 1877, he purchased land in rural southwestern Ontario with the dream of starting a new life as a hotel owner. After building and successfully operating The Dixon House hotel for nearly 20 years, the structure tragically burned to the ground in 1896 while Dixon was travelling in his home country. The fire destroyed the entire building and the attached stables and it resulted in the death of three horses and a cow. Not wanting to give up on his thriving business, Mr. Dixon rebuilt the hotel the following year. Despite the damage from the fire, he was able to keep much of the south and rear structural walls intact, replacing only the front facade and north brick walls. During our restoration of the building more than 100 years later, we discovered evidence of this fire in the bricks that still exist on the site today. As the horse and buggy era came to a close and the automobile put new demands on the country’s roads, the age of the local inn began to fade. In the early 1900’s Molson’s Bank moved into the north end of the hotel and would operate there until late in the 20th century as BMO. But with growth comes loss, and soon The Dixon House was no longer a necessity in this small town. It was permanently made into apartments, a post office, the Ross Scott Fuels office, and the aforementioned BMO branch. In fact, this branch location was robbed at gunpoint in January of 1968! The robber made off with $9,000 in cash but was later apprehended by police.

After many years serving the community and the surrounding area, the Dixon House was left empty and deserted for many years, falling deeply into disrepair. In December of 2020 my brother and I purchased the old Dixon and began the very long, arduous process of completely restoring the building from the foundations all the way to the roof. With footings, steel beams, plumbing, wiring, insulation, heating, and a brick-by-brick restoration of the exterior, we gradually stopped the rain from pouring in and breathed new life into this historic landmark. We became shepherds of our local history and felt it was our job to help remember those who came before us and to celebrate their accomplishments. Today inside the Village Toy Castle, we proudly display artifacts found under the building and newspaper articles describing the fire and infamous bank robbery.

Make sure to take a look into our small town’s past next time you visit the store!