Slightly after the end of the Second World War, Al married Doreen. When they were first married, Al and Doreen lived in an apartment in Toronto. Al had just started his job in an accounting firm doing audits and bookkeeping. Al was also taking correspondence courses through Queen's University to get his accounting qualifications.
Doreen and Al would soon have two kids named Bob and Carol. They realized once their children were born that they needed a bigger place for all four of them to live. Al’s job did not pay very much and he was spending a lot of money to take correspondence courses from Queen’s University, which meant he and Doreen could not afford to buy a house. They decided to find land just outside of Toronto so Al could build a house.
Luckily, Al found land in Scarborough to build their house on. Al bought the land from a farmer who was selling off parcels of land to other people who wanted to build houses too. Al and Doreen’s property was two acres of grass, and they did not have to cut down any trees. Once they bought the land, Al and Doreen began looking for house designs in magazines.
This took them a long time, but Al finally found a design that had everything he and Doreen wanted. Now all Al had to do was buy the supplies that he needed to build their house. In 1950 when Al was only 24, he started to build their house. The biggest challenge for Al when he started to build the house was not having a lot of experience with building.
Al knew a little about building from his dad because when Al was younger he would help his dad build things on the farm. Al’s first step was to build the basement, and then the walls, floors, and finally the roof. Some professionals had to come and help do things that Al could not do himself. The professionals came to do the chimney, and they delivered cement for the foundation of the house.
Al did most of the building himself. Al did have some neighbours, but they did not live close by because the lots were really big. His neighbours were either building their own house or they were having their house built for them. Others were just moving in or already living there.
Most of Al’s neighbors built their own house because they did not have to pay construction workers to build their house. While the house was being built, Al and his family lived in an apartment in Toronto. It was a very busy time for Al juggling building the house, going to work, and travelling back and forth between Toronto and Scarborough. In the end, it took Al two years to finish the house.
Al’s family lived in it for eight to ten years. Unfortunately, it took Al two to three hours, or worse depending on traffic, to get from the house in Scarborough to his work in Toronto. Eventually, his family decided to move again to be closer to Al’s work. Al’s family moved just outside of Toronto.
Al would encourage someone to build a house if they have the time and someone to lead them. Now, some people may build their own house, but not a lot of people build their own house because they usually buy their homes. Overall, the house in Scarborough was Al’s favourite house to live in because he built it with his own two hands.