Mostrando 24 resultados

The Thorpe House is located mid-block on the west side at 184 Barrie Street. It was built post-1900 in the Eclectic Edwardian style. Miss St. Clair lived in this house many years ago.
The two-storey, ‘L’-shaped building has a projecting, two-storey, angled bay with a wide, pediment-like gable. More Edwardian features include the classically-inspired entrance porch with a balcony above. The balcony is supported on slender Doric colonnettes set on brick piers. This porch appears to be a replacement. There are large windows and the principal windows have rectangular transom lights decorated with small squares of coloured glass. The gable window also has coloured glass inserts. A broad, hip roof, roof curb and wide eaves overhang are Italianate features. The house has brick masonry construction and a stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, metal siding conceals the original wood trim at the gable and soffit. It also notes that although the replacement porch columns, balcony railing, and the altered porch roof are not of the same proportions as the original design, the original character of the building is still maintained. (1, 3)

Detail of the meeting between Great Sail (holding baby Francis Simcoe) and Lt.-Gov. Simcoe

BRADFORD - Life-long Bradford resident and lawyer C.T.S. "Charlie" Evans last week shed further light on the history of the old convent on Barrie St.

The convent it currently the object of a legal tussle over ownership between the town and the contractor Fred Picavet.

Mr. Evans said he recalls being told by Kate Stevenson, the daughter of 19th century Bradford lawyer John MacLean Stevenson, that her father constructed the house based on plans of a Scots castle.

A CASTLE
"I recall her telling me that at one time he had gone to Scotland and had come back with plans of a castle and that he had this house built according to that plan," Mr. Evans said.

According to his personal records, Mr. Evans noted that Mr. Stevenson had been a Master of the Masonic Lodge in Bradford in 1877, a post usually held by older men.

"So hazarding a guess I would have to say that that house would be 150 years old," he surmised.

FIRST WAR
He said that the Lukes family, who owned the Bradford flour mill in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, likely moved into the house around the beginning of the First World War.

"Dick Crake bought the Lukes' house (where the Anzil Plaza now stands) around that time and the Lukes moved into what everyone now knows as the old convent."

Mr. Evans said a check could be made in the registry office in Barrie to determine when the property was originally purchased by Mr. Stevenson.

"Whatever becomes of this grand old lady, her colourful history will not be soon forgotten.

When the Recreation Facilities Committee was formed consisting of Chairperson Ann Currie, Jim Culbert, Steve Boland, Ellen MacKenzey, Bill Germayne and Sharon Sinclair, Director of Parks and Recreation, one of their first commitments was to find the "ideal" location to house the new Recreation and Cultural Complex. After a considerable amount of investigative work and discussion by this Committee, the favorite choice was the old convent.

While the convent certainly fits the "centralized" location criteria, an added attraction is the history which surrounds this 112-year old structure.

In 1876, John MacLean Stevenson built this masterpiece (named Masonic Lodge) and lived in it a short 10 months before selling it to the Robert Bingham family. This family stay was a little longer (16 years) before it, once again, changed hands. In 1893, James Boddy became the proud owner and renamed the house "Fairview". He resided there until 1903 when the property was purchased by Rev. Egerton Ryerson Young (noted missionary and publisher) who again renamed the house this time she was labeled "Algonquin Lodge". Upon the death of Rev. Young in 1910, his family sold the house to Sam Lukes who ran the Bradford Flour Mill. Lukes pet name for the home was "Luxalean". The house stayed in the Lukes family until Gilbert Lukes sold it in 1949. At the time of this sale, the plot of land was divided in two; on the plot south of the house was built St. Mary's Catholic School. The house was occupied by a group of teaching nuns of the Ursuline Order of the Diocese of London in Ontario.

In 1969, John and Maria Moniz bought the stately mansion and turned it into an apartment house. Contrary to the zoning by-laws, Town Council closed their eyes and allowed this grand home to be a multiple family dwelling for 12 years.

From the moment John Moniz' sale was accepted by Fred Picavet's cash offer, which in turn, nullified the offer made by the Town's agent, the convent had been cloaked in a shroud of controversy.

No sooner had the new deed owners, Fred and Betty Lou Picavet begun the extensive renovation work to the upstairs wings, than Bradford town council issued a "stop work order" and filed a Lis Pendents with the County Courts in Barrie (Feb. 26, 1981). This order was subsequently honoured by the County Court Office which necessitated an immediate halt on the renovation work by Picavet. While workmanship was in "pending", taxes continued to be paid by the owner (Picavet).

It wasn't until 1987 when an out-of-court settlement was reached between Fred Picavet and the Town that the convent became the legal property of the town of Bradford.

While the "legal hagglings" were underway, the old convent sat empty for five consecutive winters. Pampering can oft times help to slow down the natural aging process. Unfortunately, pampering the convent during that turbulent time was not a top priority item; henceforth, the building was vandalized on a fairly regular basis.

For someone like Jim Culbert, "the furniture doctor", it was nothing less than a mortal sin that such a fine building should have been so readily accessible to vandals. At the time Jim, personally, approached Town Council and Pat Storey to see if the building could be boarded up to discourage further destruction. He was basically told that the Safety Standards Bylaw which was in place to deal with this situation was unable to be looked after due to the lack of a by-law enforcement officer.

Incensed by that line of reasoning, Jim decided to "go to bat" for the convent. Through public awareness and letters to various newspapers, the convent was eventually boarded up which helped to minimize the continued vandalism.

With the endorsement of the Master Plan Recreation Study and the Facilities Committee, to renovate a part of the convent for the new Recreation and Cultural Complex, Jim Culbert is, once again, appealing to the town's people to "get on board" with regard to bringing this matter to the forefront. The decision on the fate of the convent has "gone on far too long" in Culbert's opinion. "Let's get it resolved one way or the other, either tear it down or renovate it and make it into a beautiful piece of property."

As Jim recalls, "A year ago Town Council promised a public meeting to discuss the convent issue which was never carried out. Hopefully, the newly-elected Council will stick to their electoral views on this issue."

A building with such Italianate design is rare in today's society. By restoring it, a two-fold purpose will be served; firstly, it will provide a complex to house programs such as the arts, drama, brownies, cubs, moms and tots etc. Secondly, and ideally, a room in the old wing of the house will be set aside for a "museum" of sorts to provide past history on the convent and Bradford itself".

IF RESTORED, this spectacular mansion will serve as a memorial to the previous owners."

The Gib Lukes House is located mid-block on the west side at 170 Barrie Street. It was built post-1900 in the Edwardian Classicism style. The garage at the rear where Gib Lukes parked his Stanley Steamer automobile is currently the building at 123 Moore Street being used as the Bradford Food Bank.
The two-storey, rectangular building has a strong, simplistic underlying form. It has a two-storey projecting bay, hip roofs and projecting dormers. There is a classically-inspired entrance portico with a balcony above. The porch roof is supported on Doric colonnettes on brick piers. A pediment form highlights the entrance. The roof line has a dormer and substantial chimneys. Decorative soffit brackets surround the main eaves and dormer eaves. The house has a variety of window sizes. The brick window arch has a subtle ‘eyebrow’ detail. Transoms are found at the bay windows. The house has brick masonry construction and painted wood cornice, porch, balcony and dormer details. There is a stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is maintained well. (1, 3)

A photograph of William L. Campbell, a Bradford Druggist in-front of his home located on Barrie Street, taken in Winter 1940.

"Masons, carpenters and painters have been for some time and are still at work at Algonquin Lodge, and "vaster than has been" are the improvements that are being made. This property was lately purchased from the Estate of the late Rev. E.R. Young by Mr. samuel Lukes, who contemplates making many changes to this already handsome structure, besides installing a hot water heating system, sceptic tank, etc."

Bradford United Church is located at 66 Barrie St. The structure in this photo was built in 1865 in the Gothic Revival style. There was an original church built on this site in 1851.
The 1½-storey building has a rectangular plan, tall and narrow window openings, and a steeply-pitched, gable roof. The enclosed narthex is a recent addition. It is not considered to be consistent with the original style. Tall, gothic-style, trefoil arched openings light the nave. A round, rose window (with muntins set in the shape of a cross) is set into the gable portion of the façade. These cross-shaped muntins replace the original four-leaf clover muntins. The vergeboard has small, gothic arches. Octagonal pinnacles are found at each of the four corners. These pinnacles were originally topped with ornamental spires. Shallow buttresses extending the full height of the façade divide it into three parts. The trefoil arch and the three-part façade refer to the Trinity. There is brick masonry construction with stucco cladding and a parged, stone foundation. The original dichromatic brick cladding is concealed under the stucco cladding. Originally, the underlying red brick walls had buff-coloured brick buttresses and framing at the door and window openings. According to the 2000 inventory, the building is in good condition with some original features. (1, 3, 4)

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)