Goodbye, Guyitt house: Unlikely icon, dubbed Canada’s most photographed home, demolished

An old farmhouse near Chatham that was dubbed Canada’s most photographed house has been reduced to a dirt pile after its owner was unable to convince a municipality to quash a demolition order.

Peter Anderson experienced many emotions Wednesday as he watched the Guyitt house, which has been in his family for more than century, razed.

Saying he only had one comment to make, Anderson told The Chatham Daily News: “I hope Chatham-Kent is happy with what they have caused to this historic site.”

The 1845-vintage structure had stood for decades in a dilapidated state and was popular with photographers and artists as time took its toll. The fight over its fate made headlines across Canada and even caught the attention of the New York Times.

Anderson had been given until Oct. 20 to “pursue options to preserve and protect the property” after Chatham-Kent’s bylaw appeal and property standards committee upheld a demolition order issued by the municipality last fall for the house on Talbot Trail near Palmyra, about 40 kilometers southeast of Chatham.

At an April 19 hearing, Anderson had been unable to convince the appeal committee the demolition order was invalid because a complaint about the home was received as an unsigned email.

Rather than try to restore the home, Anderson quietly chose to have the structure demolished.

Peter Anderson has fond memories of childhood visits to the Guyitt house, which was purchased by his grandparents, Roy and Ethel Guyitt, in 1908. He is seen here in September 2022 outside the home on Talbot Trail, east of Palmyra, which was torn down Wednesday. (Ellwood Shreve/Chatham Daily News files)

In a previous interview, Anderson said he would have liked to know who filed the complaint and why.

“I just wished whoever complained would have talked to me,” he said, adding he’d have been willing to discuss any concerns.

Anderson previously said he didn’t “make a nickel” by leaving the home standing.

Many photos posted on social media showed numerous people paid no heed to the no trespassing sign and chain across the entrance to the property.

Anderson said the house held personal historical value and held fond memories as the longtime home of his grandparents, Roy and Ethel Guyitt, who bought it in 1908. It is where his mother, Isabelle, and uncle, Earl, grew up.

In its heyday, Anderson said, “The house was a showpiece, because my grandfather made an effort to keep it a showpiece.”

The home once featured a parlor with a grand piano and had a circular driveway lined with towering pine trees and a garden out front. There was also a cattle barn and tobacco shed on the property years ago.

Anderson said the Guyitt family owned a number of farms in the Palmyra area, dating back to when his great-grandfather Walter Guyitt established the first homestead.

Anderson previously said his mother inherited the farm, including the house, after his uncle died in 1976. She rented the home for five or six years, but it had been vacant in the decades since, he added.