Music, moonlight make magic at the ‘castle’ of her childhood dreams. Now she’s passed her lovingly restored mansion on to new owners to cherish

The rippling notes of Debussy’s “Arabesque No. 1” from Paul Mason’s grand piano swirl dreamily around the 11-foot ornate plaster ceiling. It’s a moment of magic that brings tears to the eyes of Paulette Sopoci. She’s come by to visit her old home.
“This house was made for music,” she says. “It has such a happy, positive energy.” Mason’s wife, Tracy Howard, smiles in agreement. 
Several months ago, Sopoci said goodbye to the Italianate Victorian mansion she named Primrose Hill Manor. The heart-wrenching decision followed her realization that it was too much house for a single mom and two teenagers.
“Leaving her to Paul and Tracy gave me great comfort as I knew I was passing her to loving hands,” Sopoci says.
The heritage home enthusiast spent three years infusing love and new life into the neglected “magical castle” she bought in early 2021. It had been her dream to live there since childhood when she passed it every day in the school bus.
The new owners fell instantly under the spell of the house, built in 1885 by a doctor in Janetville, a hamlet of 455 in Kawartha Lakes.
“We just stood there in awe,” recalls Howard. Her brother had told them “I’ve found your dream house” after he spotted it on the multiple listing service, or MLS. “We completely fell in love with it — both the history and architecture.”
The carved walnut staircase, inlaid hardwood floors, sparkling chandeliers and grand archway are spectacular features in their living space.
The couple accelerated their long-term plan to move to a historic place with more land. Now Mason, owner of a music school in Aurora, where they used to live, works from home three days a week, while Howard drives an hour to her job as an educator in Richmond Hill.
On this Sunday afternoon, Sopoci shares more details about the former “sad state” of the heritage-protected home and its painstaking restoration.
It took “40 buckets of mud” and a crew of European craftsmen to restore the walls and ceilings in the former double parlour, now the dining room and living room, where Mason’s music parlour resides in front of the big bay window. Both his restored Mason & Risch piano from the late 1880s, and the Debussy he is playing, are the same vintage as the house.
Sopoci recounts how a servants’ dwelling, which was moved off the property by horses in the early 1900s, now sits opposite the schoolhouse several kilometres away where Howard grew up and her mother and brother still live. It’s a “small but meaningful connection,” she says.
Primrose, which won fans around the globe thanks to the Sopoci’s posts on social media, retains many original features. For example, the Downton Abbey-style front doorbell still works when you pull the outside knob attached to a long wire. The old outdoor toilet, however, has been replaced by a convenient new main-floor powder room.
Sopoci says “a lot of babies” were born in the upstairs “pink room,” which is one of Howard’s favourite spaces, for its calming aura.
Some old tales were uncovered during research for a coffee-table book Sopoci co-authored with local writer Sara Walker-Howe. It’s called “Primrose Hill Manor: The History of the Janetville Mansion,” and was due to be launched in Janetville Nov. 16 at time of writing.
“I didn’t want to leave this home without honouring her history,” explains Sopoci, who plans to start a new career as a real estate agent specializing in old homes. She’s currently “elevating and charming up” an old workers’ cottage in Port Hope where she lives.
At the mansion, Howard and Mason are planning more rejuvenation projects, including the gas conversion of four inactive, coal-burning fireplaces and fresh paint for the exterior woodwork. The 5.5-acre grounds, covered with gardens, statues and many tree species, also need work.
The couple are still finding new things to love about their dream home.
“Seeing Primrose looming under a full moon and the stars silhouetted by the beautiful black locust trees on the property (is) incredibly magical!” says Howard.
Inside, the homeowners bask in the “beautiful energy” that fills the rooms.
“We’re blessed,” adds Mason. “We feel a certain responsibility and stewardship … to really maintain the integrity of this house.”
That’s music to Sopoci’s ears.