‘He wanted something magnificent’: son reflects as Salem mill home hits market for $2.95 million
Irvine Mill rebuilt by hand over decades into 5,000-square-foot estate
SALEM – David Drew-Brook spreads black-and-white photos, yellowing around the edges, across a table in the living room his father, Hugh Drew-Brook, constructed from a ruin.
The photos capture a glimpse into the thousands of hours the elder Drew-Brook poured into the home.
In 1966, he paid farmer Justin Healey $2,800 for the single-acre property in what is now the Millridge Estates in Salem.
Then in his mid-30s, he had returned to Wellington County from Toronto with a personal fortune after establishing Fryston Associates, a company that sold electric motors and gear boxes to major manufacturers.
“He was searching all over the place trying to find something that really moved him,” Drew-Brook said.
“He wanted something magnificent to donate his life to, something that was unbelievable.”
Drew-Brook’s father saw potential in the crumbling remnants of the Irvine Mill – commissioned in the 1850s by Salem’s founder, Sem Wissler, and built seven storeys up from the Irvine River along a limestone wall.
By the time his father discovered it, the mill had been abandoned for more than half a century.
Timber salvaged from 19th century barns was trucked in from Milton to replace wood removed by Fergus’ James Russell after he bought the mill in 1914.
Today, checked, hand-hewn beams, assembled with mortise-and-tenon joinery, are visible throughout the home.
“When my dad started actually doing it, the old farmer was sitting in a lawn chair out there, just amazed that it was actually happening,” Drew-Brook said.
When Hugh Drew-Brook laid eyes on the crumbling remnants of the former 19th century Irvine Mill, left, he saw a vision for a new home. He built an estate by hand over decades using traditional building methods and post-and-beam joinery, right. Submitted photos
When Drew-Brook was four, his father left his family, including his wife and two daughters, behind in Oakville.
“I would come out once he bought this place on weekends and kind of be his slave,” Drew-Brook said.
By around 10, he was pulling nails, lifting wood, sanding and painting while shoving down hotdogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he recalled.
When his sisters joined and their father felt bad for the children, Drew-Brook said he would take them into town for Chinese food and milkshakes.
“The older I got, the stronger I got, the more I had to move and lift things,” Drew-Brook said.
Sometimes his best friend Gus would tag along and the boys would slip away to fish the river below and shoot pellet guns.
Across decades the mill was transformed into a 5,000-square-foot estate with five bedrooms and two bathrooms across two levels. The rushing of the Irvine climbs up the valley walls and spills into the home as though background music.
In 1985, Drew-Brook’s father retired and settled into the home with his second wife, Lorraine, finishing the estate around 1990 before the couple renovated the Fergus Grand Theatre.
The elder Drew-Brook called Salem home until his death in January 2025, at 94.
The mill-turned-estate is now owned by his son, and has been for sale since December.
The current asking price is $2.95 million.
“The mill was always going to be my mill one day, it was always that way,” Drew-Brook said.
Now living in Campbellville, Drew-Brook said he finds returning to the place he spent Christmases and birthdays to be challenging and wants to part ways with the home.
“This place is pretty exclusive, I could imagine someone famous like a rockstar or some famous sports person (living here) because it’s pretty private,” he said.
“I just hope someone loves it, because it deserves to be loved.”
