Fort Resolution (Aug 04/03) - Some people might claim their homes have everything, but do they have an old jail cell? Most likely not.

However, an RCMP staff house in Fort Resolution does have an old cell, an extreme rarity for domestic residences in Canada at the very least.

In the corner of the guest bedroom is a heavy wooden door, complete with a large key and a viewing portal to look inside. Open the door, and you will see the bars of a cell which fills most of the room.

It's a leftover from the days before 1989 when the house was divided into a staff residence and the RCMP detachment office.

Constable Shawn French and his wife Tobi have lived in the house for two years.

Tobi French says the cell was a bit of a shock at first. "I couldn't believe it. It was like, 'Oh, my God.'" Eventually, she says the presence of the cell became funny, and she now jokes with visitors about it.

One of the jokes is that there is lots of room in the house for overnight guests.

"Everyone coming to the house has got the tour," she says.

Her husband says he didn't focus on the cell when he moved into the house, possibly because he is used to them in his line of work as a Mountie. However, he adds, "it is definitely a novelty."

Constable French says as soon as he saw the cell he could only think 'storage room'. "Tobi was probably the one who thought it was more unique than me."

The cell was unused when the couple moved into the house. It did contain a sink and toilet, which have since been removed.

Aside from the heavy wooden door and the bars, there is another indication that the room was once a cell - graffiti from those who spent time behind the bars.

Tobi French says she went into the cell one day and noticed the graffiti. "I got totally into reading the graffiti all over the walls."

One of her favourite sayings on the wall is 'Worst than hell', written in a flaming style of lettering. Not far away on the wall is a drawing of a demon.

Shawn French says eventually the house may be retrofitted and the cell removed. Currently, one new RCMP staff house is being built in Fort Resolution, but it is not to replace the house with the cell.

For now, having a cell in the house can create a certain hazard. Both Shawn and Tobi French say, if a person is not careful, the heavy wooden door could close behind you and there would be no way of getting out from the inside. The couple once almost locked their cat in the cell by accident.