MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Spring 2018

SPRING 2018 ML BLUE 81 has lived in the house since 1971, explains: “My father was always resourceful in making ends meet, because the resort was alway struggling. So he invented the pottery business [Blue Mountain Pottery] to help sustain the resort.” Jozo hired refugees from either Nazi-occupied Europe or Soviet-occupied Europe to run the pottery—and then drew on this talent pool for his landhaus . Jozo Weider’s resourcefulness was probably a byproduct of having fled his homeland with few possessions. Before it was in vogue, Jozo “upcycled” anything he could find. “He was always good at plundering wrecked buildings or using war surplus or salvaged material,” says George. “The chandelier [in the great room, see p. 82] came from an old bank building in Toronto on King Street that was being wrecked.” And the massive central wall is local fieldstone, built by European masons. “Jozo was away when they built it and he wanted a much bigger fireplace. While he was away, they made this little one, which I think he was angry about.” Jozo Weider hired fellow expatriates—highly skilled artisans, metalworkers and builders—who all left their own stamp on the project. OPPOSITE TOP "Jozo worked with a Czechoslovak architect," says George Weider. "Jozo's idea was that it would be a kind of Austrian landhaus [country home." OPPOSITE LEFT Atop the Heintzman piano, pictures of George and wife Barbara, and Jozo Weider circa 1950; and a bust of Jozo by master potter Dominic Stanzione. TOP RIGHT, UPPER RIGHT OF PHOTO “The wall is bark from Portugal that my father found,” says George. “The paintings my wife Barbara [Weider] and I collected, some of them from our days at Berkeley.” BOTTOM INSET Who needs windows with glass? Mary with Christ, ceramic, artist unknown.