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The building located at 1 Holland St. West was originally built as a hotel (Central Hotel, Uneeda Hotel, H. Hulse Hotel). Tom and Len Saint worked on the construction of the building. George Webb ran the hotel for a while before he moved to Saskatchewan. Tom Bell was the manager for many years until he retired and moved to the east side of Simcoe Street. Around 1917 it became the Imperial Bank of Commerce. A large safe and living quarters for the bank staff were located upstairs. The entrance to the apartment was on the west side of the building. John McDowell and his family lived here in the 1930’s. The bank was robbed by the notorious “Boyd Gang” in the 1940’s. At one time the front offices were used by the police, and the back offices were used by Mr. Scanlon (a lawyer). The bank closed in 1972 and was moved further west on Holland Street. This building then became a real estate office, a convenience store, and as of 2014, the Coffee Culture Café. (1, 2)

The mid-block building located at 43 and 45 Drury St. was built in the Neoclassical Duplex style in the 1860-1880’s. Leonard Saint bought the building in 1909 from Mrs. Garrett (mother of E. Garrett who owned the Bradford Witness newspaper). Len was in the building trade and he was a brick layer, a plasterer, and a cement worker in Bradford. In 1911, he moved the building twenty feet back from the street, raised it, and put in a cellar as well as a parged, stone foundation. He also added two rear kitchens. There was a garage on the back lot facing Elizabeth Street. The south side of the house was rented to various people. The building stayed in the Saint family until the 1980’s.
The two-storey, four-bay, semi-detached house has a simple form with separated, side-hall entrances in the formal, symmetrical façade. It has a shallow-pitched, gable roof and gable end chimneys. The upper portion of the original, wood-panelled doors is glazed and has multiple lights at the top. This is reminiscent of the transom found in a more ‘’upscale” home of this period. There are large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights. Large, 6/6 wood sash windows at the ground floor are original. The upper-floor window openings align with the ground-floor openings and the windows have plain wood frames and sills. Wood frame construction is covered with vinyl siding. The original cladding was stucco on wood lath. According to the 2000 inventory, this building is a modest example of workers’ housing. It also notes that it is in good condition with some original details remaining. (1, 2, 3)

This is the front view of the house located mid-block on the east side at 143 Barrie Street. It was the last house built by Art, Tom and Len Saint after WWI. The building was constructed in 1925 in the Arts and Crafts style. It became the home of many people, including Erv Hill and his wife. He worked for Dennis Nolan and was a noted (Ford) mechanic. Harold Seaurow and his wife (who came from Grand Valley) later bought and moved into this house. Harold was a car salesman and a partner with Wink Crake for a while. He then went with Jim (Catania) and Brad Walker.
The 1½-storey ‘bungalow’ has an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. A broad, medium-pitched, gabled hip roof extends down to reduce the scale of the building. The slightly-raised porch is entered from the front. 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. There are wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Multiple, double-hung windows are set into wide segmented, arched openings with 1/1 panes, lug sills of precast concrete, and brick voussoirs at the arches. The smaller, second-storey windows are offset from the ground floor windows. They are set into a gable and dormers and have plain, wood sills and trim. A bay window projects out from the south wall and has no foundation. The house has wood frame construction with masonry cladding, vinyl siding and a painted, concrete foundation. The original siding would have been wood. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with many original features that have been maintained well. It also notes that the windows, shutters, and porch railing are not original. (1, 2, 3)

This is the front view of the house located mid-block on the east side at 143 Barrie Street. It was the last house built by Art, Tom and Len Saint after WWI. The building was constructed in 1925 in the Arts and Crafts style. It became the home of many people, including Erv Hill and his wife. He worked for Dennis Nolan and was a noted (Ford) mechanic. Harold Seaurow and his wife (who came from Grand Valley) later bought and moved into this house. Harold was a car salesman and a partner with Wink Crake for a while. He then went with Jim (Catania) and Brad Walker.
The 1½-storey ‘bungalow’ has an asymmetrical façade and a rectilinear plan. A broad, medium-pitched, gabled hip roof extends down to reduce the scale of the building. The slightly-raised porch is entered from the front. 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. There are wide window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Multiple, double-hung windows are set into wide segmented, arched openings with 1/1 panes, lug sills of precast concrete, and brick voussoirs at the arches. The smaller, second-storey windows are offset from the ground floor windows. They are set into a gable and dormers and have plain, wood sills and trim. A bay window projects out from the south wall and has no foundation. The house has wood frame construction with masonry cladding, vinyl siding and a painted, concrete foundation. The original siding would have been wood. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in good condition with many original features that have been maintained well. It also notes that the windows, shutters, and porch railing are not original. (1, 2, 3)

The mid-block building located at 47/49 Simcoe Road was built around 1830-1860 in the Neoclassical Duplex style. Originally, there was a long, one-storey, frame house located at this site. It had a verandah on the northwest side, a picket fence along the street, a large barn on the south side of the house, a garden at the back and it was the home of Lew McConkey Sr. (a grain and seed merchant), his wife, and son. Lew had an office on the north side of Holland Street. New owner Paul Sadlon had Len Saint build a garage and a storage building at the back. Paul and his wife were market gardeners. Their son owned Bruce Sadlon Motors. The house was later converted into two apartments. Jack Gibney and his wife (Sadie Copeland) and their three daughters (Doris, Joyce and Muriel) lived here at one time. He was a horse trainer and worked for Dick Crake for many years. Jack replaced Alfred Payne (a bachelor who lived at the Queen’s Hotel). The current duplex was built on the same property after the house was demolished. Harold Gwyn, owner of a plumbing and heating business, was the owner of this newer building at the time this photo was taken in 1996.
The two-storey, four-bay, semi-detached house has a rectangular plan, a formal, symmetrical façade, and a medium-pitched, gable roof that has a central chimney (not original). Slightly-raised, separated, side-hall entrances are located at either end of the façade. This gives greater privacy than paired entrances, but it places habitable rooms along the party wall. The doors are set into plain, rectangular openings and are not original. There are large window openings with low floor to ceiling heights. Equal-sized, ground-floor and second-floor windows (not original) with high sills are set into plain, rectangular openings. The openings have plain, wood frames and sills. Similar window openings above the entrance doors may have once existed and then been covered. The building has wood frame construction with vinyl siding (not original), a cut- stone foundation, and a basement. According to the 2000 inventory, few original details remain other than the building’s form. It also notes that the slightly-sagging roof suggests insufficient structural supports in the centre of each house. (1, 2, 3)

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 structure located at 21 Holland St. West is part of what is known as the Evans Block. The building was raised and Len Saint added a cellar and a foundation. The work was done by Mac Campbell and his team of carpenters. T.W.W. Evans had the building constructed to house his law practice. The upstairs was also used for years by Dr. Ellis, a dentist. The upper floor even served as Bradford Library in the 1930s, run by Mrs. Day. At one time, the offices of Tupling Insurance were also located in this building. In 1957 a fire destroyed several buildings to the east, but this structure was spared. (1, 2)

The first hydro substation in Bradford was located on Nelson St. (south of John St. East). It was built in 1916 (or 1918) by Tom and Len Saint on a small piece of property owned by the foundry on Holland Street. (1, 2)
Please contact the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (905-775-3328) if you have any other information about this photo.

Alex Sutherland’s bakeshop was located at 27 Simcoe Road for many years. It was later sold to Howard Bowser. Howard converted it into a rental dwelling. The building was eventually owned by a market gardener who had a cement garage and storage building constructed by Len Saint on the property. Neil Lathangue and his wife lived here for a time years later. After they left, Tommy and Bill Whiteside moved in and remained here until they died. (1, 2)

The Village Inn is located at 2 Holland St. East (on the corner of Holland and Simcoe Streets). There had been a hotel located at this site before the great fire of 1871. The building in this photo (1995) was built in 1920 in the Ontario Vernacular style. The original two-storey, cement building contained living quarters upstairs. One of the early inhabitants was Dave Watson, a farmer from the Scotch Settlement. He was one of the first to work with Professor Day in bringing about the drainage of the Holland Marsh. The ground floor was a grocery store in the early 1930’s (or before it was bought by Jim Gray and his wife). It was separated by a central entrance downstairs.
Ken Morris bought the building around 1933 or 1934. Renovations were done by Art and Len Saint in 1937. The building was converted into the English Tudor-style hotel currently known as “The Village Inn”. A one-storey addition was added later (on the east side of the building) to contain a restaurant and ladies’ room. Under Jack Pong’s ownership, the addition became a Chinese restaurant. Additions were built later at the rear. Frank Sakowski ran the Inn for a while before it was sold to Bill Callum and Mr. Grant.
The two-storey building has a wide, rectangular plan with an asymmetrical organization and a typical ‘Main Street’, storefront façade located at the street line. It is characterized by a high, flat, ‘boomtown’ façade and cornice with brick dentils. The prominent, corner entrance door is oriented diagonally toward the street intersection. Existing door and storefronts are not original. The upper-floor pairs of windows suggest some original Italianate styling. The windows are not original on either level. At the time of the 2000 inventory, the building had masonry construction, stucco and wood siding, and a built-up, tar and gravel roof. It notes that the modest, commercial building is in fair condition with no original details visible. (1, 2, 3)