{"id":673598,"date":"2026-05-16T14:39:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:39:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/673598\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T14:39:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:39:20","slug":"neil-young-winnipegger-lives-in-home-in-singers-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/673598\/","title":{"rendered":"Neil Young: Winnipegger lives in home in singer\u2019s family"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, the home in Winnipeg\u2019s Norwood Flats is not remarkable, looking similar to others on the street that have stood for decades.<\/p>\n

However, the house on Beechwood Place boasts a connection to one of Manitoba\u2019s most famous residents.<\/p>\n

It was owned by Cornelius \u201cNeil\u201d Hoogstraten and Lavinia Merle \u201cVinia\u201d Ragland, the aunt and uncle of Neil Young.<\/p>\n

\"\"AOC Bernie Sanders Neil Young performs as he is joined by Joan Baez during a “Fighting Oligarchy” event with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., in Los Angeles, Saturday, April 12, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong) <\/p>\n

Amber Pohl, the current owner of the house, has owned the home for the past 18 years, and said the connection has come up many times over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a situation one time where I was renewing my licence at a local insurer, and I mentioned the home address and somebody said, \u2018Oh, is that the Neil Young house?\u2019\u201d she said during a recent interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve bumped into people in the community as well where they\u2019ve said that and people have come just to take a look at the house and drive by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Short time in Winnipeg<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s time in Winnipeg only lasted for five years, from 1960 to 1965, but it played a major part in shaping his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe formed his first bands, got his first electric guitar, wrote his first songs, and really dreamed of making music his life being here in Winnipeg,\u201d said John Einarson, a Winnipeg music historian who has chronicled Young extensively.<\/p>\n

\"\"Neil Young’s childhood home Neil Young’s childhood home on 1123 Grosvenor Avenue in Winnipeg (Photo Courtesy of John Einarson) <\/p>\n

Young first lived in the Earl Grey apartments off Corydon when residing in Winnipeg and later rented the second floor of a home on Grosvenor Avenue with his mother. He also spent hours at his aunt and uncle\u2019s home in the city.<\/p>\n

Hoogstraten, according to the Manitoba Historical Society, was an artist, a long-time member of the Winnipeg Sketch Club and was one of the founders of Forum Art Centre in St. Boniface. Ragland was a writer who wrote human interest stories for magazines in the 1950s and 1960s and was the sister of Edna \u201cRassy\u201d Young, the musician\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

Einarson recalls it was the Hoogstratens that helped him break the ice with Young. He was writing a series of news articles in the 1980s about the Winnipeg music scene in the 1960s and was able to interview Edna, who ended up giving him Young\u2019s home phone number unprompted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call the number, Neil answered and he said, \u2018Oh, hi John, I have your articles right here,\u2019\u201d Einarson recalled. \u201cThe Hoogstratens had been sending him all of my articles about the bands and his contemporaries, including one on The Squires.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Squires A promotional photo of Winnipeg band The Squires, featuring a young Neil Young. (Photo courtesy John Einarson) <\/p>\n

Einarson has interviewed Neil multiple times over the decades and said Neil still keeps in touch with extended family in Manitoba, bringing relatives and cousins to concerts in Winnipeg when he stops in the city.<\/p>\n

A Christmas story<\/p>\n

The Hoogstraten home also plays host to a story involving one of Neil\u2019s other contemporaries in the music scene, Pohl recalled.<\/p>\n

Young was around 20 years old and went to watch musicians in Winnipeg and called his aunt and uncle on Christmas Eve asking if it was okay to bring a friend over, because she didn\u2019t have anywhere else to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey walked all the way from somewhere downtown into Norwood, and it was Joni Mitchell,\u201d she said. \u201cShe spent Christmas in the house here with Neil and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell performs “Both Sides Now” during the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo\/Chris Pizzello) <\/p>\n

Einarson has heard two different versions of the story. He said he heard the story that Mitchell was in town to perform on \u2018Let\u2019s Sing Out!\u2019, which was being taped at the University of Manitoba, and ran into Young, who was carrying a Christmas tree to his aunt and uncle\u2019s home and brought her over.<\/p>\n

The other version he heard from Young was that he met her at the 4D, a popular folk music venue in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

\"\"Neil Young Neil Young plays at the 4D in Winnipeg in 1964 (Photo courtesy of John Einarson) <\/p>\n

But their meeting involved two of their iconic songs.<\/p>\n

According to Einarson, Young played Mitchell a song he wrote on his birthday about not wanting to grow up. It was \u201cSugar Mountain,\u201d which was later released on the 1977 album \u201cDecade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether he played it at the Hoogstratens or at the 4D Club, she was quite taken by the song, but she said she felt the song was too pessimistic, and becoming an adult isn\u2019t quite as bad as that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So she wrote a song in response to it, talking about how great growing up is.<\/p>\n

That song? \u201cThe Circle Game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018More than welcome to visit\u2019<\/p>\n

Pohl has never met the legend, but says she has seen him perform several times, most recently in 2019.<\/p>\n

She said Young has an open invitation to visit her home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love to host him. That would be incredible,\u201d she said. \u201cThe house probably looks quite different. You know, there\u2019s been a lot of upgrades over the years. It\u2019s almost 80 years old at this point, but I imagine he has memories, and he had cousins in the house as well. So, you know, he\u2019d certainly be more than welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Author\u2019s note: CTV News reached out to Neil Young for an interview, but he was not available. If Young does wish to talk, he is more than welcome to drop a line or come for a walk in Norwood Flats.)<\/p>\n

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