This drawing presents a weathered rural house rendered with Carl Schaefer’s confident, economical line. The structure dominates the composition, angled slightly so that its sagging porch, narrow windows, and uneven clapboard siding are all exposed to view. Schaefer uses vigorous pen strokes and cross-hatching to articulate the age of the building—the warped boards, patched stone foundation, and broken steps suggesting long use and quiet neglect rather than outright ruin.

The surrounding vegetation is spare and scraggly, reinforcing a sense of abandonment and seasonal stillness. Lines sweep diagonally through the sky and foreground, animating the scene and giving the static house a subtle sense of movement and atmosphere. The contrast between solid architectural forms and the restless, sketchy handling of bushes and ground is typical of Schaefer’s graphic work, where structure and spontaneity are held in careful balance.

Overall, Old House in Bentnick feels less like a portrait of a specific dwelling and more like a study of rural endurance—an unromantic but deeply observant record of Ontario’s built landscape, captured with clarity, restraint, and quiet empathy.