The House the Ace & Barbara Built

(Birds Chirping)

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A.C. Leighton: I like the mountains and the peaks and the glaciers. That’s where I want to be and that’s what I want to paint.

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Melissa Cole: It is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and that’s why Barbara and A.C. settled here initially, because it’s a beautiful place for art.

TV Announcer: The Leighton home, a striking structure, designed by the artist himself, sits high on a hill 17 miles southwest of Calgary and served a purpose useful to the artist’s pursuit of his craft.

Barbara Leighton: And he built he house in the form of a cross, so that he could paint out three sides of each portion of the cross.

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Barbara Leighton:  I like it here because I think it’s probably the last free area left in the world, it’s… You don’t see many houses around here, and you do seem to be able to be free to live whatever life you want.

Barbara Ballachey: I mean, she always spoke highly, she loved his work, she was proud of it. I never sensed anything other than just a really solid connection. And then they used to go hiking and camping and very much a nature person.

Philippa Finnis: Whether it was true devotion or this is what you do, it’s loyalty. I think she probably gave up a lot for that, you know, for that. But then she chose that too.

Barbara Leighton: I met him at the College. I was a student at the College.

Interviewer: You were a student of his?

Barbara Leighton: Yeah.

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Interviewer: What a lovely story.

Barbara Leighton: Hm. I don’t know whether it is or not. [Said with laughter]

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