A 2016 interview in which Hallmark Channel actor Marc Blucas discusses the extensive restoration project he undertook on his 300-year-old Pennsylvania farmhouse resurfaced Saturday after his mother-in-law, former supermodel Dayle Haddon , had died of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
In the interview with the eight-year-old, Blucas – who is married to Haddon's daughter Ryan Haddon – described the house as a meaningful family project.
The 52-year-old revealed that he and 53-year-old Ryan Haddon bought the property, built in 1711, to “be closer to family.”
“It’s pretty amazing,” Blucas said. “And it’s a way to express my creativity when I’m not filming or working.”
He added that his love of DIY projects and historic structures inspired the move to the East Coast
“I think like most DIYers, you like working with your hands, you know? [And] It is the only part of the United States that has such architecture with old barns and old stone houses. So I know these will be projects for life.”
Blucas, best known for his role as Riley Finn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also reflected on his recovery journey in a heartfelt Instagram post from 2021.
He shared that after moving to Pennsylvania a decade earlier, he obtained his contractor's license and took on several restoration projects.
Comments from Hallmark Channel actor Marc Blucas about restoring the home where his mother-in-law Dayle Haddon tragically died have resurfaced
Tragically, Dayle Haddon was found unresponsive in a second floor bedroom of the Bucks County home on Friday, December 27th.
“When we moved to Pennsylvania ten years ago, my wife took a huge leap of faith… by allowing me to pursue a dream and find a historic property to restore for our growing family,” he wrote in the post's caption .
“That's a really nice way of saying I wanted to buy a s——- and live in it.” A place I could reimagine. “One that would require patience, love and effort to turn into a finished product.”
He continued: “And while I'm not sure that will ever be an achievable outcome with a 310-year-old farmhouse, we have created something magical along the way and hopefully taught our children the value of hard work, preserving our historic buildings and the satisfaction “This includes learning new things and doing them yourself.”
Tragically, Dayle Haddon was found unresponsive in a second floor bedroom of the Bucks County home on Friday, December 27th.
According to an official police report, emergency services also discovered 76-year-old Walter Blucas unconscious on the first floor.
He was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he continues to receive treatment.
The investigation revealed that a faulty flue and gas heater exhaust pipe resulted in a carbon monoxide leak.
“This tragic incident is a stark reminder of the importance of carbon monoxide safety in our homes,” a police report said in a Dec. 28 update.
Blucas and Ryan, who married in 2012, have two daughters together.
Ryan also has two children from her previous marriage to Christian Slater.
Pictured: The Burks County Home where Dayle was found
Blucas revealed that he and Ryan, 53, bought the property, built in 1711, to be “closer to family”.
Dayle was a former actress and supermodel
Dayle Haddon has had a successful modeling career that has spanned decades.
Her peak came in the 1970s and 1980s, when she graced covers such as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue (1973) and twice appeared on Harper's Bazaar's list of the Ten Most Beautiful Women.
She remained active in her 70s and was featured in Vogue as recently as August 2024. Haddon, born in Montreal, Canada in 1948, became a prominent face for cosmetics giants such as Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, Max Factor and Revlon.
In addition to modeling, she pursued a career in film, appearing in several American productions in the 1970s, including The World's Greatest Athlete (1973) opposite Jan-Michael Vincent.
After moving to Europe, her focus shifted to international cinema, although she continued to appear occasionally in American films, such as North Dallas Forty (1979) with Nick Nolte and Cyborg (1989) with Jean-Claude Van Damme. She also had small roles in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994) and Celebrity (1998).
Fluent in French and English, Haddon devoted her later years to activism. She served as a UNICEF ambassador and founded WomenONe, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the education of girls and women.