The building located at 27 John St. West (on the northeast corner of John and Moore Streets) was built around 1890 in the Gothic Revival style. It was the home of John Lee (a retired farmer from north of Bradford) for many years. After World War II, it was the home of Mildred Peelar and her family. Walter Mundy later lived here before the house was sold. The 1½-storey, ‘L’-shaped, main building has a medium-pitched, gable roof with a steeply-pitched, gable dormer. These are Gothic features. There are round-head, coloured transom lights over several ground-floor windows that are structurally supported above by arched, brick voussoirs. There is also a rectangular transom over the entrance door. Windows of various sizes (indicating post-1880 construction) have the original, wood lug sills. The structure has brick, masonry construction and a rusticated, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the replacement porch varies from the original design intent. (1, 2, 3)
This building is located at 26 Holland St. West. H.F.S. Gardner, his wife Bertha, and children Tom and Ada (who was in a wheelchair) moved from Newmarket to this area in 1920. They opened a combination general and hardware store that sold clothing, boots, shoes, paints, tools, coal, oil, etc. The business used all the available space in the building, including the two floors and the basement. The family lived on Simcoe St. in a house owned by Miss Hill. (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)
The Stoddart House is located at 250 Barrie Street. It was built around 1870 in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. Some of the early settlers in the Bradford area were members of the Stoddard/Stoddart family. John Stoddard settled along the Bond Head Road in 1829. In later times, Major George W. Stoddart was the reeve of Bradford. The two-storey building has a rectangular form and a centre hall plan. There is a symmetry in the large window openings (with high floor to ceiling heights). The double-hung windows with painted-wood lug sills are also neoclassical features. The medium-pitched, hip roof, wrap-around porch (with original turned wood post supports), and remaining wood brackets and decorative trim are Regency Revival features. A projecting, bay window at the ground-floor living (or dining) room is a Gothic Revival feature. The house has solid, brick construction and a stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the metal screen door at the entrance is unsympathetic to the original design. It was also notes that the porch needed repair. (1, 3)
The mid-block building located at 25 Joseph St. was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular style. The 1½-storey, three-bay ‘farmhouse’ has a modified, ‘L’-shaped plan with an off-centre hall. It has low and medium-pitched, gable roofs. The enclosed porch was probably open originally. There are discontinuous eaves line. The entrance is raised slightly above grade level and the steps are not original. Originally, there was probably only a single entrance door via a porch. An entrance door with metal awning may be a later modification. The building’s 2/2 sash windows with plain, wood trim may be original, but the metal awnings at the windows and the door are not. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding. The original cladding was probably wood cove siding. This structure has a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the modest house has had cosmetic, and some minor, organizational modifications over time. (1, 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)
This mid-block building located at 24 Queen St. was built pre-1880 in the Gothic Revival style. The one-storey cottage has an ‘L’-shaped plan with a centre hall. It has an asymmetrical façade, a medium-pitched, gable roof and off-centre gables at the front and side façades. A covered, open porch extends beyond the façade projection to shelter the entrance at street level. It has a shallow, hip roof supported on narrow, wood posts with decorative gingerbread brackets and a plain, wood railing. The centre entrance is set into a simple, rectangular opening. Narrow, double-hung windows with low floor to ceiling heights are set into rectangular openings with plain, wood frames and sills. There is an angular, bay-window projection on the north side that has a truncated, hip roof. The 2/2 windows are original. Decorative, painted, wood half-timbers are found on the exterior walls (at both the front and side gables) and the centre, brick chimney is original. Wood frame construction has stucco cladding and there is a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the concealed foundation indicates that the house was built prior to the construction of the existing street and town services. It also notes that the house is in good condition with many original details. (1, 3)
This house is located at 232 Barrie St. (on the southwest corner of Barrie and Fletcher Streets). It was built around 1890 in the Eclectic Gothic Revival style. The two-storey, ‘L’-shaped building has a medium-pitched, gable roof and large, symmetrically-placed openings. The basic form is a Gothic Revival feature. The front corner porch with slender Doric columns and a decorative front pediment is a Classic Revival feature. There are coloured-glass transom lights above the main-floor, end gable windows. The structure has loadbearing, brick masonry construction and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the replacement doors and aluminum storm windows, as well as the porch floor, foundation and railing are unsympathetic with the original design. (1, 3)
The buildings shown in this photo are located at 21, 23, 25 and 27 Holland St. East. One of the buildings in this row was once a bakery and confectionary owned by Jack Madil. There were two ovens in the rear and a barn at the back of the property. Jack later sold the business to Fred Gowland in the early 1930’s and bought a farm (on the north side of Concession 10, on the west side of Sideroad 10). Fred and his family moved into the living quarters above the bakery. He had a partner and second baker named Bert Hunt. Fred later got a job as head baker at the Penetanguishene Asylum and moved to that area. Bert was left to run the business until he got sick. The business was then closed and the building was sold. The 25 Holland St. East address was the Liberal Party office for Kraft Sloan in 1995. The 27 Holland St. East address was the location of a barber shop run by Joe Scotto for over thirty years. (1, 2)
The mid-block building located at 23 John St. West was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. It was the home of retired farmer Walter King (during and after the war) until his death. The one-storey, three-bay cottage has a rectangular plan, a centre hall, a symmetrical façade and a gable roof. It had a kitchen at the rear originally. There are single windows (with low floor to ceiling heights) to the primary rooms on each side of the porch at the front. The wood trim is original, but the windows and the door are replacements. Metal supports for the porch roof are not original, but the roof itself may be authentic. The house has wood frame construction with vinyl siding. The original wood siding is probably still under the newer cladding. According to the 2000 inventory, few existing building elements appear to be original other than the building’s form. It also notes that this modest cottage probably had few decorative details originally. (1, 2, 3)
