The building located mid-block at 123 Moore Street was built pre-1900 in the Gothic Revival style. It stood behind the grand, Italianate villa (The Convent) that was once located at 118 Barrie Street and was the home of the Lukes’ family. Originally, the structure was built to be a two-car garage to house Gibb Lukes’ vehicles (particularly his Stanley Steamer). The garage was eventually converted into a dwelling. At the time of this photo (1995), it was being used as the Bradford Food Bank. The one-storey, three-bay cottage has an “L”-shaped plan with a side hall. There is an asymmetrical façade with a front gable above the façade projection and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The front wall below the gable is inset slightly to provide shelter for the front entrance. It is set into a simple, rectangular opening. Small windows that are not original have low floor to ceiling heights. They are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. The building has wood frame construction with stucco cladding and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, this modest cottage has few original details other than the building’s form. (1, 2, 3)
The house located at 64 Simcoe Road was built on what was originally a vacant lot to the west of the Aiken’s property. The lot was sold to Leonard Saint by the McDonald sisters in 1946. Len built a frame, stucco house on the property in the winter of 1946-47. That was the year of a huge snow storm. The structure had a cement foundation, a cellar, and a water heater. A garage was built later on the laneway. Nellie (Saint) James once lived here. Her husband Ernest began a liquor store with his brother and son Ronnie. Nellie remained here with Ronnie after Len died. Ronnie sold the house when Nellie died. (1, 2)
This two-storey structure is located at 218 Simcoe Road. It is the fourth house on the west side (south of the “Y” in Simcoe Road). Robert Stewart, his wife, and family lived here many years ago. His son George, who married Ethel Waldruff, played lacrosse and was a painter and paper hanger for Billie Sutton. Robert owned 75 acres of land and worked as the town clerk for 25 years. He also farmed (and later rented) his land. Ed Cave and his wife (Ida) and daughter (Violet) moved to this area from Newton Robinson and eventually bought and worked a farm. He delivered milk and had a dairy in town. Ed was a staunch Orangeman who played King Billie riding his white horse at the 12th of July parade. There was a gravel pit on the property. He eventually sold his farm to Mike Sklencar, John Kulha, Steve Brinkos and John Kashmere. They divided the remaining land and sold the lots along Simcoe Road. The large house was converted into four apartments that were used as their living quarters while they each built a house. The structure was still being used as an apartment building in 1995. (1, 2)
The Davey House is a large, two-storey house located at 79 Barrie St. (on the northeast corner of Barrie St. and Scanlon Avenue). It was built in the Gothic Revival style around 1880. There was a two-storey, frame barn on the back of the lot originally. Bill Davey and his family - Minto "Scott", Leona, Oswald, Archie, and Margaret - lived here many years ago. Bill was a carpenter’s helper for local builder A.J. Saint. Bill was also a noted lumberman, butcher, and hunter. He owned a slaughterhouse on the west side of Simcoe St. (Picadilly Hill) and a butcher shop at the corner of Holland and Moore Streets. Bill died at his hunt camp in his nineties. The ‘L’-shaped house sits quite near the street line. It has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and a medium-pitched, gable roof. Elaborately-carved bargeboard trim and finials, a coloured glass, arched transom over a main-floor window, and the original wood lug sills remain. The house has wood frame construction and a stone foundation. Deterioration of the brick veneer at the grade level indicates a lack of adequate, subsurface drainage. An original rear, one-storey addition with a simple shed roof (once used as a summer kitchen) still remains. According to the 2000 inventory, the replacement windows, doors, and the two-storey addition at the entrance are unsympathetic with the original building. (1, 2, 3)
The Pringle House is located mid-block on the east side at 99 Barrie Street. It was the home of Walter Pringle, owner and manager of the first Dominion store (on Holland St.) in the 1930’s. The 1½-storey, two-bay ‘bungalow’ was built in the Arts and Crafts style. The construction of this house (and six others) was begun in 1912 by Lieutenant George Stoddart. When Stoddart went overseas during WWI, the projects were completed by builder Art Saint. The house has a simple form with an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. It has a bell-cast roof on the centre dormer and a steeply-pitched, truncated gable roof that extends down to reduce the scale of the building. This roof also covers the raised porch and is supported on wood half posts on brick piers. The porch has a simple, wood handrail and baluster. Wood lattice encloses the underside of the porch. A wide band of windows across the front of the dormer emphasizes the horizontal lines and the massing of the house. The building has wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Ground-floor and basement windows and the front door are set into segmented, arched openings with concrete sills. Second-storey windows are offset from the ground-floor windows and have plain, wood sills and trim. The mix of exterior cladding materials and the wood fascia band (expressing the line of the floor structure between the ground and second floors) is common to this style. There are returned eaves at the porch roof. The house has wood frame construction with brick masonry cladding, painted wood shingles on the dormer, and a painted, concrete foundation. The front ground-floor and second-floor windows are not original. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with many original features that have been maintained well. (1, 2, 3)
The house located at 105 Barrie St. was once the home of Dennis and Mrs. Nolan, their son James (a car dealer and salesman), and daughters Connie (a teacher at Bradford High School) and Aileen (also a teacher). Dennis Nolan was a Model T. Ford dealer in Cookstown as well as a noted, prize-winning, honey producer. He was also the reeve of Bradford, involved in the drainage of the Holland Marsh, and he worked marshland. At one time Dennis owned the town’s water works. (1, 2)
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)
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)
This structure was originally a shed located on property owned by Tom Saint. It was moved to its current site at 25 Bingham St. (south of Centre Street) onto property owned by George “Duke” Lowe. After the shed was restored as a house, Duke married Mrs. Storey. Their four children (Clara, George, Dorothy and Betty) joined Mrs. Storey’s previous children (Charlie, Jack, Roy and Harvey). It later became the home of Ted and Clara Brockwell for a number of years after WWII. (1, 2)
The house, which is currently found at 26 Colborne St., was moved to this site many years ago. It was originally located across the river on the west side of Federal Farms Road. The west entrance to Queensville passed through the property. The one-storey, T-shaped house has a living room, two bedrooms, a front kitchen and a smaller room behind. North of the kitchen there was a sloping roof and a long narrow room that was used as a bedroom. Lorne Church, his wife, and their children (Jim, Marion, Aileen, Jack, Gordon and May) once lived here. Lorne worked at Lukes’ mill. There was a shed behind the house for cars and wood. It was later moved into the garden and converted to a greenhouse for plants to be grown on Mr. Bruce’s marshland property. In addition to farming for Mr. Bruce, the boys delivered milk in a small wagon in the early 1930’s. (1, 2)
