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)
The cement brick building (with an arch) that is located at 17 Barrie St. is not the original structure at this site. Originally, there was a large frame building (used to shelter horses, a stage coach, buggies, cutters, etc.) that was part of a livery stable owned by Dave Ogilvie many years ago. It was destroyed by fire shortly after Dave bought it and the building seen in the photo is a smaller replacement. Dave also ran a stage coach line (later a taxi service) to Newmarket to meet the Metropolitan street car. Travelling salesmen would use this stage line to bring their wares and samples to town. They would stay at the Queen’s Hotel, where they would take orders from customers. They then used the stage coach and livery to go to Middletown, Bond Head, Newton Robinson, Beeton, Cookstown, Fennell’s Corner and then back home. Dave also hauled mail from the train station to the local post office, as well as to Bond Head. When automobiles replaced horses, the stables were removed from the building and people rented storage there for their vehicles. In time, Dave added a small office, toilets and gas pumps. After he died, Gordon and Mac ran the business until it was sold to Fred Gregory. Fred ran a car repair shop and employed a mechanic. Fred had a rental apartment built upstairs. It had outside stairs to the laneway. When Fred got sick he rented the building to Ray O’Neil who later bought it. Ray sold the building to the European Bakery in 1994. (1, 2)
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)
