The Fred C. Cook House is located mid-block on the east side at 135 Barrie Street. The house was built in the Arts and Crafts style around 1925 by Art Saint. It is believed that this lot was originally owned by Fred Stoddart. This was the home of Fred Cook and Leona (Miller) until they died after WWII. The house was later bought and remodeled by Gary and Rosemary Woodcock. He had a plumbing and heating business. Their son Gary Paul was a business partner. The 1½-storey ‘bungalow’ has a simple form, an asymmetrical façade, and a rectilinear plan. A broad, steeply-pitched, bell-cast roof extends down to reduce the scale of the building. The covered, raised porch is entered from the side. The roof, horizontal siding, and a wide band of windows across the front of the porch emphasize the horizontal lines and massing of the style. Multiple, double-hung windows are set into wide, rectangular openings with high floor to ceiling heights on the ground floor. Smaller, second-storey windows are offset from the ground-floor windows and set into a gable and dormers. The lintels and lug sills are made of precast concrete. There is a parged, concrete foundation and wood frame construction with masonry cladding and vinyl siding. The original siding would have been wood. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in excellent condition and the original features have been maintained well. It also notes that although the porch was enclosed sometime after the original construction, it is in keeping with the original design intent. (1, 2, 3)
Construction of the house located mid-block at 129 Barrie St. (and six others) was begun in 1912 by Lieutenant George Stoddart. When Stoddart went overseas during WWI, the project was completed by builder Art Saint. This house was built in the Edwardian Classicism style. Mr. Moore, who ran a store on the north side of Holland St., moved to this house from John Street. It was eventually bought and sold in the 1990’s by Murray Quinn and family. The two-storey house has a bell-cast, hip roof. A square plan and simple form are highlighted with a large, classically-inspired porch. The hip roof on the entrance porch is supported by painted wooden columns and simple, rounded bracket supports. Simple, double-hung windows are balanced within the façade. The dormer window mimics the roof line of the main house. Construction is solid, smooth brick with simple details. According to the 2000 inventory, the screening (added later to enclose the porch) does not detract from the building’s appearance. It also notes that the house is well-maintained. (1, 2, 3)
Construction of the house located mid-block at 123 Barrie St. (and six others) was begun in 1912 by Lieutenant George Stoddart. When Stoddart went overseas during WWI, the project was completed by builder Art Saint. The house was built in the Edwardian Classicism style. Archie and Minnie (Spence) Hammel moved up the street into this house. They ran a grocery store on the south side of Holland St. (in the second building from Drury St.) and they both died in this house. Minnie left a lot of the Spence records in the attic. These records dated back to 1900 when her father ran a lumber company in Bradford. The two-storey structure has a bell-cast, hip roof. A square plan and simple form are highlighted with a large, classically-inspired porch. The hip roof at the entrance porch is supported by painted, wooden columns and simple, rounded bracket supports. Simple, double-hung windows are balanced within the façade. The dormer window mimics the roof line of the main house. Construction is solid, smooth brick with simple details. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is well-maintained. (1, 2, 3)
The house located mid-block at 119 Barrie St. was one of seven houses begun in 1912 by Lieutenant George Stoddart. When Stoddart went overseas during WWI, the projects were completed by builder Art Saint. This house was built in the Edwardian Classicism style. Hewey Douglas and his wife lived here many years ago. He had a hardware store on the north side of Holland Street (west of the bank). The two-storey building has a simple, formal composition. The square form is topped by a bell- cast, hip roof. A hip roof on the large, classically-inspired entrance porch is supported by half columns on brick piers. Simple, double-hung windows are balanced within the façade. The side-bay projection (with wood siding) adds visual interest. The rest of the exterior is solid, smooth brick construction with simple details. According to the 2000 inventory, the house has been maintained well. (1, 2, 3)
Builder A.J. (Arthur) Saint and his wife Margaret once lived in the structure located at 113 Holland St. West. Art bought the house in 1931 and completely remodeled it. He added a walk-in refrigerator and a two-car garage in the old summer kitchen and woodshed. At the back of the lot at that time there was a two-storey barn that Art turned into a workshop. He had three children (Keith, Helen and Karen). Art died in 1952 and the house was sold a couple of years later to John DePeuter. It was later remodeled and bricked again as seen in this photo from 1995. (1, 2)
There was a vacant lot located at 11 Holland St. East after the big fire of 1871. Dennis Nolan built an addition to his Model T Ford dealership (located at 9 Holland St. E.) on this vacant lot. Len Saint used cement to build the new structure and Art Saint did the carpentry. The cars arrived at the railroad station in boxcars and then were brought to this new building. There was a display room at the front. At the rear was another service department with a door on the west side leading to the laneway at the rear. In time, Jim Armstrong and Fred Gregory opened a garage at this location. Charles Roberts also ran it and had a taxi business. Armstrong sold the building to Patchett, who turned the upstairs into a bowling alley (while also still running a taxi business) with a garage in the back. (1, 2) There was also a vacant lot located at 13 Holland St. East after the fire of 1871. Russell “Curly” Curtis (from Newmarket) married Aileen Church and they built a butcher shop here after WWII. Years later it became the site of the Simpson order office (which was run by Mrs. Fallis). (1, 2)
The building located at 10 Holland St. East in this 1995 photo is not the original structure on this property. That building was destroyed in the big fire of 1871 and the space stood empty for many years. A man from Aurora hired Art and Leonard Saint in 1936 to build a movie theatre on the vacant lot. It was to be a winter and fall project after they finished building the Post Office on Barrie Street. The Holland Theatre, as it became known, was completed in 1937. It had a basement, a front projection room upstairs, a cement foundation, cement floors and red, block, tile walls. All of the quicklime that was used was hauled in from Hagerville and made into mortar in the basement. The mortar contained camel, goat, and cow hair which came from Colles’ Leather business in Aurora. A steel, suspended lath was plastered in the ceiling. The roof was flat and sloping and the stage was at the rear. The owners in the 1940’s and early 1950’s were Mr. Rees and Mr. Hobberlin. George Carson bought the theatre after WWII. The structure later housed many businesses, including a Deemac Furniture store. The building is currently (2014) unoccupied. (1, 2)
