William Sword Frost cared enough about the history of Orillia to gather photographs, letters and documents for a scrapbook.

Thanks to Frost's hobby, an intriguing snapshot of life from around the turn of the last century is available for perusal at the Orillia Public Library.

The Glasgow native, who was mayor in 1911 and 1912, is perhaps best remembered today as the father of Leslie Frost, who went on to serve as premier of Ontario from 1949 to 1961.

The elder Frost is remembered less as Daylight Bill for introducing daylight saving time during his tenure.

But where the iconic public statesmen and "Dean" of Orillia's business community lived is all but a faded memory in his scrapbook.

The epicentre of his family's life -- where Leslie Frost spent his formative years before going off to war and Queen's Park-- sitsvacantat320CaniceSt.

Neighbours seem to realize the two-storey brown brick home once housed someone important, but without a marker of any kind, its significance is largely lost on Orillians.

Now, that history is up for sale. It has been for some time.

Listed as a fixer-upper, the Frost family home is going for $279,000.

Steve Stoutt, the agent with the listing, says the old house had sold, but the deal didn't close. It was put back on the market, where it's been for about six months.

"It's a great house and has lots of potential," Stoutt said. "Some people are scared and don't see the potential."

The inside needs some cosmetic work, but the home is structurally sound, he noted.

The last renovations in his file date back to 1971. A wooden staircase at the side of the building provides access to a suite on the second level. A detached garage was added at some point.

Leaded glass in the windows and cornices provide the exterior's finishing touches, while a majestic fireplace sets the tone inside.

Stoutt tries to give a bit of history when he shows the home to potential buyers.

People react differently when they consider a house's historical value, he said. While some show interest, others see potential headaches down the road if a home is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

That status, meant to protect the home, restricts owners in what changes they can make to their historic abodes.

But the Frost home is not one of the 27 designated heritage properties in Orillia. In fact, last fall, it didn't even make the list of 22 others the municipal heritage committee sought to add to the municipal registry as properties of interest.

It's just another old house up for sale in Orillia.

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The Highlands, located at the southeast corner of North and Canice streets, was the second home the Frost family bought in Orillia.

Records at the land registry office in Barrie show William and his wife Margaret Frost bought property on the "Muskoka Hill" in 1896 for $1,000.

Sources have the Frosts moving into the North Ward home in 1897. They sold the property in 1917 for $3,500.

Before The Highlands, the Frosts lived at 117 Mississaga St. W., a duplex known as the birthplace of the Frosts' second son, Leslie, in 1895.

The Mississaga Street house was on the municipal heritage committee's properties of interest wish list last fall.

The duplex, which bears no marker, doesn't stand out as anything special.

But it wasn't always so pedestrian. In fact, it used to make headlines.

"Mr. W. S. Frost is making extensive exterior and interior alterations to his double houses, corner of Mississaga and Wyandotte streets," reported The Orillia Times on June 9, 1904.

Frost, overshadowed historically by his premier son, was no slouch.

The "Dean" of Orillia businessmen, was a solid member of the town's middle class. Trained as a watchmaker and optometrist, he opened up a jewelry shop called W. S. Frost and Company, the current location of Town's Jewellers, at 51 Mississaga St. E. in the heart of downtown.

Apart from introducing -- albeit, unsuccessfully at the time -- the concept of daylight saving time, Frost was a founding father of the Orillia Water Light and Power Commission.

Moreover, he was instrumental in the construction of the town's YMCA, which he helped finance by securing $5,000 from Lord Strathcona before leaving city hall.

Frost also dreamed up Orillia's first municipal crest, which was eventually redesigned.

It has been speculated that Frost, an ardent prohibitionist, may have inspired the satirical portraits of campaigning teetotallers immortalized by his contemporary, Stephen Leacock, in Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town.

Although the family's first home was at 117 Mississaga St. W., evidence points to The Highlands as the place where they came into their own.

William Sword Frost's scrapbook includes old photographs of his wife, Margaret, sitting in front of the fireplace, still a centrepiece of the home's living room. The family patriarch also made a sketch of his wife in the library.

That drawing was sent to Leslie, who, along with his brother Cecil, was in Europe fighting in the First World War.

While stationed overseas, Leslie's letters home to his parents and youngest brother Grenville express a longing for life at The Highlands.

"The thing I miss as much as anything is the snow. I can just imagine stepping out of the front door today and feeling the nice crisp air and feel the boards of the verandah creek with the cold," he wrote on Dec. 25, 1916.

With their eldest boys overseas, in 1917, the Frosts gave up their hilltop views of Lake Couchiching to live full time at the lakeside summer cottage they'd owned since 1910.

The winterized cottage, then known as Lochbrae and now as 372 Bay St., is where the couple celebrated their "golden" wedding anniversary on Jan. 1, 1940.

Nine months later, William Frost drove to his place of business, where he stepped out his car and collapsed dead from a heart attack.

The Packet & Times lamented his death: "William Sword Frost was almost the last of a group of men whose civic loyalty and public spirit did much to make Orillia."

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The Highlands home wasn't completely beneath the municipal heritage committee's radar.

Peter Bowen, the committee's chair, said he'd heard about the old house's Frost connection. But without any supporting documentation, the committee couldn't nail anything down.

"That's one of the things we always struggle with," Bowen said, noting expert research comes at a price.

In retrospect, The Highlands may be more culturally significant than the first Frost home on Mississaga Street, he said, adding it could be discussed for the committee's wish list.

The label "property of interest" doesn't bar renovations, but it stipulates a 60-day notice period before demolition.

Bowen acknowledges that some properties of interest could eventually be taken a step further to full designation. But he said the co-operation of property owners is an important element in that process.

Last fall, the committee's wish list raised the ire of homeowners who didn't want their investments listed as properties of interest.

Responding to the outcry, city politicians told the heritage committee to try to consult with the homeowners.

Yesterday, Mayor Ron Stevens said the property owners needed to be made aware of the process. "At the very least, they need to know it's on the books."

Stevens said he sympathizes with objecting homeowners: "The last time I checked, we still live in a democratic process here."

Bowen said the response from homeowners has been mixed.

"Some of them have no interest in the history of the home and say it's theirs."

Others appreciate the historical element, but worry about the constraints of potential designation, he noted.

Bowen hopes to go back before council in the fall with an abbreviated list of recommended properties of interest.

A simple plaque on a building or sidewalk could be a non-intrusive way of marking a heritage property, he suggested.

For Bowen, a walking tour that highlights all the city's historic properties with such plaques would be ideal.

Not all need to display architectural brilliance. For example, the former home of folk legend Gordon Lightfoot at 283 Harvey St. and Group of Seven artist Franklin Carmichael's residence at 55 Scott St. hold cultural significance.

Many Orillians have gone on to much acclaim, Bowen said. "It's nice to be able to say this is where they grew up and put that into a context."

Recalling a pleasant historical tour in Charleston, S. C., Stevens said he likes the idea for Orillia. "I could see that happening here."

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Orillia has made a habit of regretting the loss of its heritage buildings.

In 1914, The Weekly Times announced that the "old Ardaugh house" at the corner of Tecumseth and Peter streets would be taken down.

"The landmark of the early days are rapidly vanishing," the article lamented.

In 1920, The Weekly Times expressed sorrow over the passing of the Queen's Hotel, at the corner of Front and Mississaga streets.

"It is perhaps the last remaining building on the main street connecting the Orillia of today with Orillia before its incorporation as a village."

And in 1960, The Packet & Times wrote that one of Orillia's "most stately homes is dying."

The house associated with prominent physician Dr. George H. Corbett on Colborne Street, near West Street was being razed for a parking lot.

"It is pathetic to see brick and beam come hurtling down from the once stately walls that, in their time, knew the sounds of laughter and sorrow within them."

That sentiment isn't lost on Bowen. If the history behind heritage houses

isn't known, it's that much easier for developers to tear them down for condos, he said.

And knowing the stories behind historic homes makes for a richer community, Bowen said. "Certainly knowing our past, to some extent, helps our future."

Such knowledge could be passed down to future generations one plaque at a time. Perhaps, that way, The Highlands won't be just another old house on the block.