Robert Coulter House
The Coulter House is one Etobicoke’s more elusive historic houses simply because the most interesting architectural features are not visible from the street, making the house easily overlooked. Furthermore, the actual history of the house has never been fully documented or made public in any great detail. What follows is a summary of fifteen years of research and experiences living in the Coulter House with the goal of elevating its profile in the family of Etobicoke heritage properties.
The Coulter House at 112 Ravenscrest Drive is an example of a late Carpenter Gothic Ontario farmhouse. Constructed by Robert and Anne Coulter in 1874, the house still has most of its original architectural features including its central gables, bargeboard trim, windows, well and pump. The unique red and buff brickwork is also original. It is one of the few remaining Etobicoke houses of this period that has not been irreversibly altered or taken out of its original landscape context.
The Coulter House at 112 Ravenscrest Drive is an example of a late Carpenter Gothic Ontario farmhouse. Constructed by Robert and Anne Coulter in 1874, the house still has most of its original architectural features including its central gables, bargeboard trim, windows, well and pump. The unique red and buff brickwork is also original. It is one of the few remaining Etobicoke houses of this period that has not been irreversibly altered or taken out of its original landscape context.
112 Ravenscrest Dr. The Coulter House/Site, ravine backyard view (historic front of house), 2012.
Although not the oldest house in Etobicoke, the documentary, archaeological and architectural evidence suggests a long and complex history. The front of the house was built overlooking what is now the Glen Agar Park ravine on what used to be the north half of Lot 13, Concession I, fronting the Humber (FTH). The entire 100 acres of land was originally granted to Eleanor Stephenson in 1809. Eleanor was the eldest daughter of Captain Francis Stephenson who served in the Queen’s Rangers under John Graves Simcoe. In 1810, she and her husband Solomon Moore sold the property to Joseph Smith III, a military man who served in the War of 1812. In 1830 Smith sold the land to Andrew Coulter (father of Robert Coulter and builder of 59 Beaver Bend Cres. circa 1850). Although the north half of the lot was sold to the Tuer family in 1835, it returned to the Coulter family in 1842 when a 22 year old Robert Coulter, the eldest son of Andrew and Martha Coulter, bought the property.
Family lore records that Martha was from an aristocratic family and that she fell in love with “her handsome coachman”, Andrew Coulter, whom she married in Ireland ca. 1817. Robert Coulter was born in 1818 (or 1819) in Banbridge, County Down Ireland. The family moved to Etobicoke in 1822.
Robert Coulter married Anne Jane Patterson, daughter of Edward Patterson of the Township of “Toronto” in January of 1851 in a Brampton Methodist church. Robert and Anne Jane would go on to raise a family of twelve (seven girls and five boys) on the Etobicoke farm from 1852 to 1874.
Family lore records that Martha was from an aristocratic family and that she fell in love with “her handsome coachman”, Andrew Coulter, whom she married in Ireland ca. 1817. Robert Coulter was born in 1818 (or 1819) in Banbridge, County Down Ireland. The family moved to Etobicoke in 1822.
Robert Coulter married Anne Jane Patterson, daughter of Edward Patterson of the Township of “Toronto” in January of 1851 in a Brampton Methodist church. Robert and Anne Jane would go on to raise a family of twelve (seven girls and five boys) on the Etobicoke farm from 1852 to 1874.
Coulter family at wedding of Sarah Maria Coulter circa 1890. Back row L to R: Florence, Robert, Wesley, Emily, Frederick. Second row seated L to R: Andrew, Agnes, Isabella, Ann Jane, Martha, Edward. Front row L to R): Caroline, Sarah.
There is no direct documentary evidence that the land was occupied before 1851; however, there are three factors suggesting that it was. First, sixty acres of the original 100 were cleared by 1851. Unless these sixty acres were cleared quickly with a large team of hired “choppers”, the land was likely cleared at a more realistic pace starting well before 1842. Second, in the 1871 census the property was described as having “three dwelling houses”. This suggests that there was a long term occupation of the site with older houses made of log and frame being used over time as part of the farm complex. The third and most tangible reason for supporting a pre-1842 occupation is that archaeological evidence from that area has a statistically significant number of pre-1850s artefacts that were likely deposited by tenants residing on the property.
Therefore, the first house on the property could have been constructed and occupied as early as 1809 by tenants of the property’s owner. This log structure was likely used and modified by several tenants prior to 1842 when Robert Coulter acquired the property. It is not known whether the log cabin was occupied by the bachelor Robert Coulter, if it was rented out to tenants or if it sat vacant from 1842 to 1851. However, by 1851 the census records show that Robert Coulter and Ann Jane Patterson were married and occupying “a single story... log cabin”. It is also that same year that the young couple lost their infant first child to “influenza”. Family oral history records that in those early years the family lived in a log house and made its own furniture. Limited space and resources meant that “four children slept in each bed”. The Coulters had “all the necessities of life but not the luxuries that some people have today. The log house was warm as the logs provided the insulation. They had plenty of good hardwood to burn in the stoves”. Like many pioneer families, the Coulters lived in modest quarters until the time was right to make improvements to their home.
The 1855 tax assessment records suggest that the Coulters had either built a small frame building or significantly added to an existing early log cabin. Since all of the 12 Coulter children except for Fredric were born in the first Coulter log/frame house between 1852 and 1874, it is unlikely that they continued to use the log cabin in its original form. Instead, starting in 1855, they likely made additions to the original building or built a larger frame dwelling to help house the growing family. This Coulter house was shown on the 1860 Tremaine map as a solid black square and listed in the 1861 Census as a one storey “log” dwelling.
Another document that gives us a glimpse into the Coulter farm during this early period would be the 1867 military sketch of central Etobicoke by Lt. H.J.W. Gehle of the Royal Engineers. This sketch shows that the Coulter farm was made up of two wooden structures next to the concession road (Martin Grove Road) and two more wooden structures a few hundred meters to the south-west where the 1874 brick house stands today. The 100 acre farm was classified as a “B” grade farm in that it would be able to supply the military with a team of horses and accommodate 70 to 100 men in the event of a military attack. Much of the land around these two building complexes is drawn as cleared, with stumps still visible. The back part of the lot was drawn as wooded and bound by a single file path through the woods (Kipling Ave.) Within the Mimico Creek valley (now West Deane Park), the flood plain is shown as cleared with good pasture land. The Coulter saw mill is drawn and labelled as “old”, suggesting that by 1867 it was no longer in operation. It is not known when the Coulters built this mill or who operated it, but it does appear that sometime between 1860 and 1867 the mill was abandoned, likely due to the low or inconsistent water flow of Mimico Creek.
Therefore, the first house on the property could have been constructed and occupied as early as 1809 by tenants of the property’s owner. This log structure was likely used and modified by several tenants prior to 1842 when Robert Coulter acquired the property. It is not known whether the log cabin was occupied by the bachelor Robert Coulter, if it was rented out to tenants or if it sat vacant from 1842 to 1851. However, by 1851 the census records show that Robert Coulter and Ann Jane Patterson were married and occupying “a single story... log cabin”. It is also that same year that the young couple lost their infant first child to “influenza”. Family oral history records that in those early years the family lived in a log house and made its own furniture. Limited space and resources meant that “four children slept in each bed”. The Coulters had “all the necessities of life but not the luxuries that some people have today. The log house was warm as the logs provided the insulation. They had plenty of good hardwood to burn in the stoves”. Like many pioneer families, the Coulters lived in modest quarters until the time was right to make improvements to their home.
The 1855 tax assessment records suggest that the Coulters had either built a small frame building or significantly added to an existing early log cabin. Since all of the 12 Coulter children except for Fredric were born in the first Coulter log/frame house between 1852 and 1874, it is unlikely that they continued to use the log cabin in its original form. Instead, starting in 1855, they likely made additions to the original building or built a larger frame dwelling to help house the growing family. This Coulter house was shown on the 1860 Tremaine map as a solid black square and listed in the 1861 Census as a one storey “log” dwelling.
Another document that gives us a glimpse into the Coulter farm during this early period would be the 1867 military sketch of central Etobicoke by Lt. H.J.W. Gehle of the Royal Engineers. This sketch shows that the Coulter farm was made up of two wooden structures next to the concession road (Martin Grove Road) and two more wooden structures a few hundred meters to the south-west where the 1874 brick house stands today. The 100 acre farm was classified as a “B” grade farm in that it would be able to supply the military with a team of horses and accommodate 70 to 100 men in the event of a military attack. Much of the land around these two building complexes is drawn as cleared, with stumps still visible. The back part of the lot was drawn as wooded and bound by a single file path through the woods (Kipling Ave.) Within the Mimico Creek valley (now West Deane Park), the flood plain is shown as cleared with good pasture land. The Coulter saw mill is drawn and labelled as “old”, suggesting that by 1867 it was no longer in operation. It is not known when the Coulters built this mill or who operated it, but it does appear that sometime between 1860 and 1867 the mill was abandoned, likely due to the low or inconsistent water flow of Mimico Creek.
Coulter House,112 Ravencrest Dr., street view. (historic back of house) July, 2014.
Coulter family economics appear to have changed significantly in 1857 when Andrew Coulter died, leaving his estate to his son Robert. Together with the purchase of more farm land and growing productivity in the 1860s, the family was soon able to improve their living arrangements with the construction in 1874 of a “new” brick building (now 112 Ravenscrest Dr.) on or near the location of the earlier log or frame house. Although, nothing is left of those earlier structures, architectural evidence suggests that some windows, beams, floorboards and a shallow stone foundation were repurposed into the 1874 house.
The identity of the Coulter house builder is unknown. However, certain architectural elements show similarities to William Tyrrell designed structures. Furthermore, Tyrrell did employ and do business with the extended family of Andrew and Robert Coulter, so it is possible that he would have been Robert’s first choice when hiring a builder for his new home. Another possible builder could be the firm of “Streight and Ide” of Islington, as they appear to be the only significant builders listed in the Weston, Malton, Richview and Islington areas around this time. The 1871 census records that the Coulters had three “dwelling houses owned” and two barns, with no mention of type of construction. The only significant jump in the value of the property in the tax assessment records that might reflect a transition from log/frame to brick would be between 1873 and 1874. The 1874 completion date not only reflects the architectural style and details of the period but it also corroborates Coulter family oral history.
Robert Coulter was described as a social extrovert, entertaining many dinner visitors. He was firm about his moral standards and was said to be very respectful of his wife’s wishes. Ann Jane Coulter was a religious woman who, together with her husband, tried to instil in their children strong Methodist values, a love for education and the importance of impeccable social graces. Very active in the Richview community, Coulter was president of the Plank Road Association of Etobicoke and a Public School trustee for thirty years. Robert and Ann Coulter were also very active in the community’s religious life, helping found Union Chapel in 1853 and Richview Methodist Church. Within the village of Richview, the Coulter family name was well known not only for the significant land that the extended family held, but also for the significant contributions they made to the development of this small farming community for most of the 19th century.
By 1874 the Coulter House was the focal point of activity on the Coulter farm and the culmination of thirty years of the family’s hard work. Their efforts clearing the land and expanding the production of the farm eventually allowed them to build a large brick house that would provide them with the living comforts of a successful farming family. This house replaced the log/frame structure the Coulters lived in throughout the 1850s and 1860s. The first likely depiction of the existing house was in the 1878 Historical Atlas of York County. A map depicts the house as a large solid black square with an orchard to the north and a curved unpaved road coming off the concession road (now Martin Grove Rd.) up to the front of the house.
The Coulter house reached its highest number of occupants by the early 1880s - all twelve children working on the farm or attending school. While the main part of house was reserved for older family members and the girls, the attic of the kitchen was used as sleeping quarters for the boys during the 1870s through to the 1890s. Soon after the death of patriarch Robert Coulter on December 15th 1888, the older Coulter children were marrying and leaving the nest.
By 1891 only eight Coulter children remained in the house, together with the now widowed Anne Jane Coulter, plus a 36 year old “primary teacher” boarder named John A. Windsor. By 1901, 79 year old matriarch Anne Jane still occupied the house and ran the farm with four children, Isabella, Edward, Robert (Jr) and Florence (the youngest at 30 years old). After Anne Jane’s death on August 18th 1903, Isabella Coulter and her brother David purchased the 100 acre farm from their father’s estate. Florence’s 1902 marriage and the marriage of Robert Jr in 1908 (now a merchant in the nearby village of Islington) may have spurred the sale of the southern 50 acres of the Coulter farm to Walter Death (fortunately pronounced Deeth) in 1909. This sale likely coincides with the Death family’s construction of the farmhouse still standing at 98 Ravenscrest Drive.
By 1911 only Isabella and Edward remained in the house, along with 19 year old farm labourer Thomas Brooks. With the sale of the south half of the lot, the Coulters built a new complex of buildings including a chicken coop and new barn to the north of the 1874 brick house, just off the laneway. Despite the new barn, it’s safe to assume that the Coulter farm was winding down its agricultural activity in comparison to the peak wheat, dairy and pork production years of the 1870s and 80s.
Isabella Coulter remained as the last occupant of the house after her 64 year old brother passed away in 1924. It is likely around this time that the farm transitioned from being a fully functioning farm to the principal residence of Isabella Coulter and a hobby farm for her extended family that were still in touch with her. Government aerial photographs and family documents and pictures (1947) depict the Coulter house as part of an idyllic agricultural landscape, with one large barn and outbuildings to the north, and the Death farm complex south of the house. All were connected by a gravel lane that followed the curve of the ravine back to the concession road. In the Mimico Creek flood plain at the foot of the ravine, a large orchard stretches out to the concession road while tended fields stretch to the east of the house. Adjacent to the house on the south side was a large flower and vegetable garden that stretched out to the Death farm. The landscape surrounding the house was rich with flower beds and manicured lawns. The landscape was further enhanced by the planting of several walnut, maple and chestnut trees, serving to provide shade along the laneway and for the main house. Two of these trees still stand - a horse chestnut tree is in the backyard of 112 Ravenscrest and a black walnut in the ravine behind 116 Ravenscrest Drive.
Isabella Coulter died in January 1939. The property eventually passed on to her nieces, Willa Nash, Reta Affleck and Elva Gray. That same year they sold the entire north 50 acre property to Louis Charles for development, but retained the family home and surrounding 70 by 174 foot lot as a primary residence. In 1955 the nieces Elva and Reta sold their portion of the property to the third niece, Willa who maintained the house as a residence until its 1955 conversion into a tenement.
Demaris Affleck (now Carrell), is the great granddaughter of Robert Coulter and Anne Jane Patterson. She has vivid memories of what the farm was like during her many summers spent there from the 1920s through to the 1950s. ‘Aunt Bell’ (Isabella Coulter) never modernized the house (to the great annoyance of the rest of the family). Demaris’ description of the farm house, by extension, serves as a window into the earlier 19th century house. Before 1955 the house had no running water or sewage service, and the occupants depended on a well south of the kitchen and an outhouse to the north. Very elementary electrical services were likely introduced in the 1920s, frugally servicing only three rooms: the front foyer, the parlour and the main floor bedroom.
In June 1955, a construction permit allowed Willa Nash (Robert Coulter’s granddaughter) to convert the Coulter house into a tenement, construct a single car garage, and modify the back kitchen. The second floor was converted into three apartments. While Nash was altering the house, various developers including Medal Construction and Crown Construction began to build single family bungalows nearby, where orchards and fields had once been. As in other areas of Etobicoke, after nearly 150 years of agricultural use, the Coulter house and farm reluctantly fell into the embrace of Toronto’s urban sprawl.
The transition from rural to suburban was gradual but ultimately very dramatic. In 1955 cows still roamed the orchard and pasture in what is now Glen Agar Park. The laneway that hugged the ravine edge in front of the house and connected all the outbuildings was abandoned for Ravenscrest Dr. By 1956 all the farm out buildings had been demolished, leaving just the Coulter House (112 Ravenscrest) and the Death House (98 Ravenscrest) to be incorporated into a fully serviced modern subdivision. The once-grand Coulter House now became a solitary “eye sore” for new young families to complain about. One lighting rod of frustration was the outhouse that still sat on the “front” lawn of 112 Ravenscrest Dr. into the late 1950s.
At least seven families have occupied the Coulter House from 1955 to the present. The first and most noteworthy residents were Victor Kugler and his family. Kugler is well known for being a member of the World War II Dutch resistance that hid Anne Frank and her family. He is one of the few Canadians to receive the prestigious “Righteous Among the Nations” award in 1972 from the State of Israel and Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center). Anne Frank’s diary refers to Kugler as Mr. Victor Kraler. Mr. Kugler managed to escape a Nazi prison camp and survive to the end of the war, then immigrating to Canada with his second wife Lucy van Langen in 1954. The Kuglers rented the entire house with Mr. Kugler’s sister-in-law and husband occupying the second floor. With a spectacular view from the house of the West Deane Park ravine, now there were no fences separating the Coulter farmhouse from the wooded landscape to the west, so it must have felt as if they were living within their very own corner of the Canadian wilderness.
The identity of the Coulter house builder is unknown. However, certain architectural elements show similarities to William Tyrrell designed structures. Furthermore, Tyrrell did employ and do business with the extended family of Andrew and Robert Coulter, so it is possible that he would have been Robert’s first choice when hiring a builder for his new home. Another possible builder could be the firm of “Streight and Ide” of Islington, as they appear to be the only significant builders listed in the Weston, Malton, Richview and Islington areas around this time. The 1871 census records that the Coulters had three “dwelling houses owned” and two barns, with no mention of type of construction. The only significant jump in the value of the property in the tax assessment records that might reflect a transition from log/frame to brick would be between 1873 and 1874. The 1874 completion date not only reflects the architectural style and details of the period but it also corroborates Coulter family oral history.
Robert Coulter was described as a social extrovert, entertaining many dinner visitors. He was firm about his moral standards and was said to be very respectful of his wife’s wishes. Ann Jane Coulter was a religious woman who, together with her husband, tried to instil in their children strong Methodist values, a love for education and the importance of impeccable social graces. Very active in the Richview community, Coulter was president of the Plank Road Association of Etobicoke and a Public School trustee for thirty years. Robert and Ann Coulter were also very active in the community’s religious life, helping found Union Chapel in 1853 and Richview Methodist Church. Within the village of Richview, the Coulter family name was well known not only for the significant land that the extended family held, but also for the significant contributions they made to the development of this small farming community for most of the 19th century.
By 1874 the Coulter House was the focal point of activity on the Coulter farm and the culmination of thirty years of the family’s hard work. Their efforts clearing the land and expanding the production of the farm eventually allowed them to build a large brick house that would provide them with the living comforts of a successful farming family. This house replaced the log/frame structure the Coulters lived in throughout the 1850s and 1860s. The first likely depiction of the existing house was in the 1878 Historical Atlas of York County. A map depicts the house as a large solid black square with an orchard to the north and a curved unpaved road coming off the concession road (now Martin Grove Rd.) up to the front of the house.
The Coulter house reached its highest number of occupants by the early 1880s - all twelve children working on the farm or attending school. While the main part of house was reserved for older family members and the girls, the attic of the kitchen was used as sleeping quarters for the boys during the 1870s through to the 1890s. Soon after the death of patriarch Robert Coulter on December 15th 1888, the older Coulter children were marrying and leaving the nest.
By 1891 only eight Coulter children remained in the house, together with the now widowed Anne Jane Coulter, plus a 36 year old “primary teacher” boarder named John A. Windsor. By 1901, 79 year old matriarch Anne Jane still occupied the house and ran the farm with four children, Isabella, Edward, Robert (Jr) and Florence (the youngest at 30 years old). After Anne Jane’s death on August 18th 1903, Isabella Coulter and her brother David purchased the 100 acre farm from their father’s estate. Florence’s 1902 marriage and the marriage of Robert Jr in 1908 (now a merchant in the nearby village of Islington) may have spurred the sale of the southern 50 acres of the Coulter farm to Walter Death (fortunately pronounced Deeth) in 1909. This sale likely coincides with the Death family’s construction of the farmhouse still standing at 98 Ravenscrest Drive.
By 1911 only Isabella and Edward remained in the house, along with 19 year old farm labourer Thomas Brooks. With the sale of the south half of the lot, the Coulters built a new complex of buildings including a chicken coop and new barn to the north of the 1874 brick house, just off the laneway. Despite the new barn, it’s safe to assume that the Coulter farm was winding down its agricultural activity in comparison to the peak wheat, dairy and pork production years of the 1870s and 80s.
Isabella Coulter remained as the last occupant of the house after her 64 year old brother passed away in 1924. It is likely around this time that the farm transitioned from being a fully functioning farm to the principal residence of Isabella Coulter and a hobby farm for her extended family that were still in touch with her. Government aerial photographs and family documents and pictures (1947) depict the Coulter house as part of an idyllic agricultural landscape, with one large barn and outbuildings to the north, and the Death farm complex south of the house. All were connected by a gravel lane that followed the curve of the ravine back to the concession road. In the Mimico Creek flood plain at the foot of the ravine, a large orchard stretches out to the concession road while tended fields stretch to the east of the house. Adjacent to the house on the south side was a large flower and vegetable garden that stretched out to the Death farm. The landscape surrounding the house was rich with flower beds and manicured lawns. The landscape was further enhanced by the planting of several walnut, maple and chestnut trees, serving to provide shade along the laneway and for the main house. Two of these trees still stand - a horse chestnut tree is in the backyard of 112 Ravenscrest and a black walnut in the ravine behind 116 Ravenscrest Drive.
Isabella Coulter died in January 1939. The property eventually passed on to her nieces, Willa Nash, Reta Affleck and Elva Gray. That same year they sold the entire north 50 acre property to Louis Charles for development, but retained the family home and surrounding 70 by 174 foot lot as a primary residence. In 1955 the nieces Elva and Reta sold their portion of the property to the third niece, Willa who maintained the house as a residence until its 1955 conversion into a tenement.
Demaris Affleck (now Carrell), is the great granddaughter of Robert Coulter and Anne Jane Patterson. She has vivid memories of what the farm was like during her many summers spent there from the 1920s through to the 1950s. ‘Aunt Bell’ (Isabella Coulter) never modernized the house (to the great annoyance of the rest of the family). Demaris’ description of the farm house, by extension, serves as a window into the earlier 19th century house. Before 1955 the house had no running water or sewage service, and the occupants depended on a well south of the kitchen and an outhouse to the north. Very elementary electrical services were likely introduced in the 1920s, frugally servicing only three rooms: the front foyer, the parlour and the main floor bedroom.
In June 1955, a construction permit allowed Willa Nash (Robert Coulter’s granddaughter) to convert the Coulter house into a tenement, construct a single car garage, and modify the back kitchen. The second floor was converted into three apartments. While Nash was altering the house, various developers including Medal Construction and Crown Construction began to build single family bungalows nearby, where orchards and fields had once been. As in other areas of Etobicoke, after nearly 150 years of agricultural use, the Coulter house and farm reluctantly fell into the embrace of Toronto’s urban sprawl.
The transition from rural to suburban was gradual but ultimately very dramatic. In 1955 cows still roamed the orchard and pasture in what is now Glen Agar Park. The laneway that hugged the ravine edge in front of the house and connected all the outbuildings was abandoned for Ravenscrest Dr. By 1956 all the farm out buildings had been demolished, leaving just the Coulter House (112 Ravenscrest) and the Death House (98 Ravenscrest) to be incorporated into a fully serviced modern subdivision. The once-grand Coulter House now became a solitary “eye sore” for new young families to complain about. One lighting rod of frustration was the outhouse that still sat on the “front” lawn of 112 Ravenscrest Dr. into the late 1950s.
At least seven families have occupied the Coulter House from 1955 to the present. The first and most noteworthy residents were Victor Kugler and his family. Kugler is well known for being a member of the World War II Dutch resistance that hid Anne Frank and her family. He is one of the few Canadians to receive the prestigious “Righteous Among the Nations” award in 1972 from the State of Israel and Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center). Anne Frank’s diary refers to Kugler as Mr. Victor Kraler. Mr. Kugler managed to escape a Nazi prison camp and survive to the end of the war, then immigrating to Canada with his second wife Lucy van Langen in 1954. The Kuglers rented the entire house with Mr. Kugler’s sister-in-law and husband occupying the second floor. With a spectacular view from the house of the West Deane Park ravine, now there were no fences separating the Coulter farmhouse from the wooded landscape to the west, so it must have felt as if they were living within their very own corner of the Canadian wilderness.
Coulter House in its tenement days (1968)
While in the Coulter House Mr. Kugler continued to work on his favourite hobby, photography. He often spent his weekends on trips into the ravine, the surrounding neighbourhood and the city of Toronto photographing different landscapes and architecture. He spent hours developing his images in his basement darkroom. Eventually all of Victor’s photographs were inherited by his sister-in-law Rita Visser. Unfortunately, the entire collection was sold at a garage sale in Streetsville (Mississauga) in the 1990s. Imagine the added history these pictures would reveal if they were ever to resurface.
Mr. Kugler was known to be a very kind, talkative and disciplined man. Quite uncomfortable with his hero status, he never felt that he should profit from his connection to the Anne Frank family. Until his death in 1981 Victor was involved involved in various court cases with well-known Holocaust deniers who were trying to discredit the Anne Frank story. Kugler’s documents and testimonies eventually laid all claims to rest. The modest grave of Mr. Kugler can be found in Riverside Cemetery, Sanctuary Park. Only recently the grave-site was rededicated to commemorate the life of Victor Kugler. The inscription reads:
Mr. Kugler was known to be a very kind, talkative and disciplined man. Quite uncomfortable with his hero status, he never felt that he should profit from his connection to the Anne Frank family. Until his death in 1981 Victor was involved involved in various court cases with well-known Holocaust deniers who were trying to discredit the Anne Frank story. Kugler’s documents and testimonies eventually laid all claims to rest. The modest grave of Mr. Kugler can be found in Riverside Cemetery, Sanctuary Park. Only recently the grave-site was rededicated to commemorate the life of Victor Kugler. The inscription reads:
Victor Kugler
1900-1981
The Man Who Hid Anne Frank
RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS
--------------------
Whosoever Saves a Single Life
It Is As Though He Saved the Entire Universe
1900-1981
The Man Who Hid Anne Frank
RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS
--------------------
Whosoever Saves a Single Life
It Is As Though He Saved the Entire Universe
In 1968 the Coulter house was sold out of the family but continued to thrive with the careful custodianship of the following families: the Vanderwerffs, who restored the home back to a single family dwelling during their time there from 1968 to1980; followed by the Dudgeons, 1980-87; the Hoods 1987-1996; the Overings 1996-1997; the Paterson/McLeods 1997-2001; and currently the Vaccarelli family.
Researched and Written by Vito Vaccarelli
Researched and Written by Vito Vaccarelli