WHITBY FREE PRESS, Thursday, January 20th, 1972, Page 3 THE STORY OF INVERLYNN Perhapsaone of'the most alluring a s p e c ts ofWhitby, to inhabitants and ou t siders alike, is the number of his- t o ical ly enchanting old buildings and homes in the area. Inverlynn to portray Jalna One such Whitby home is so vividly r e m i n iscent of the very early 1900's, that it was chosen by the sensitive and imaginative crew of al1ively new televis- i o n s e r ies from scores of other s, as m o s t i ikely counterpart for the house p e o p led by the unforgettable charact- ers in authorMazode la Roche's world- famed novels. Many o Id timers will nostalgically recal i the haunting beauty of Inverlynn, aWhitby landmark for well over a cen- tury. The younger generation have only heard of t h e house in passing conver- sa t i on, perhaps because of its rather obscure position in off the street at Raglan and Gifford. Flanked by trees including a stately weeping willow at its front gate, Inver- 1 ynn a romantic, red brick mansion, seems t o have always defied the pass- age of time. It has ble e n recorded at the Whitby Archives that Inverlynn was built by William Laing in 1860. "The W h i teoaks of Jaina" is a 13- e p i s o d e CBC television series based on the de la Roche Jalna novels, which s p an a period over 1 0 0 years in time from 1852 to 1954. The TV se ries take in the period from the first World War until 1925. Haunted by pines Of the p as t of Inverlynn, it is said that Mrs. Laing was haunted by the sound of the wind sighing through the pines. The pines, very much a part of Inv- erlynn'sbeauty will add to the poignant outdoor scenes of the series, since the show wil I deal with "past and present" segments both por traying and projecting the full-blooded lives of the legendary Whiteoaks family. I n living memory, one Whitby resi- dent, a woman in her nineties, recalls her grandmother's account of her first glimpse of Inverlynn. KatherineMcGillivary, wife of Dav- id Maclaren recallIs: "Grandma remem- bers having it pointed out ta her from a ne ig hbaou ring hill when it was still a brick shell. " "The Grove" T he s ite because of it s locat ion in a g raove of y oung pines vvas known as " The Graove"M. Scratched an a window silI and vis- i b l e at I nver lynn ta this day are the words - J. E. Laing, January 7, 1865. The Laing family moved away fram the house n o t long after 1865. A family by the name of Grass lived thene for about a y e ar, and then the Grove was put up for sale around 1869 and then purchased by George McGillvary. - One of the first changes was the name of the places itself. Mr. McGillvary pri- d e d h i m self on naming houses. Being Scottish he cal led it "Inver" meaning be- sîde and "lynn" meaning brook or creek. Once 80 acres At that time t h e estate consisted of a I m o s t 80 acres, but Mr. McGill ivary sold several acres to his neighbours at $100 an acre, considerably reducing the si ze. The track where the reknown Queen' s P I a t e was run was just across a fiel d from Inverlynn, a distance of about 300 yards. Mrs. McGillvary was extremely ag- ainst this sport and would never al low an y of the children to go near it, Mrs. Maclaren recalls. "Howjever, they were frequentlycaughton the roof of the dri- ving shedwhich furnished an impromptu grandstand. It didnot also slip her not- ice that George, Charlie andJohn occas- ionallywentout to the fields to hoe clad in their Sunday suits. " Whiteoaks of Jalna CBC's "W h i teoaks of Jaina" makes its television debut 9 p. m. this Sunday J a n u a*r y 23rd, and features a robust cast, rich in characters. The Cast The cast, which w i 11 bring the leg- WE HAVE A COLOUR, PATTERN AND STYLE TO SUIT YOU "EVERYTHING FOR THE 668-3261 WELL DRESSED MAN" 103 DUNDAS ST. W., WHITBY endary Whi teoaks fami ly aliveon screen por tray characters from the pages of the Ja I na novels, such as Mold Adelaide" (Kate Reid), the cantankerous but lov- able gran; the proud Renny (Paul Hard- i n g ) as h e r son gallantly fighting the lst World War in his role of the "past" an d t ry ing desperately to save Jaina the family home in h i s projected role of the pre sent1' in 1970; the vinegar- s w e e t Meg, Renny's sister (played by Continued on Page 7 Genuine Reducons on Fine Ouality AT JANUARY SAVINGS OPEN 9 to 9 MON. to FRI. SATURDAY'S 9 to 6 OSHAWA FURRIERS 463 Bond St.East 728-8322 AMPLE PARKING House will be featured on television series Inverlynn in the old days. BUTT RADIO & APPL.lANCES "Your Electrohome, R.C.A. & Panasonic Dealer" 668-3707 118 BROCK ST.S., WHITBY 1 a P' 1