The Dougald MacDonald House is located mid-block at 63 Frederick Street. The house was built pre-1900 (around 1882) in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. It was built by George (Geordy) MacDonald, a bachelor, stone mason, and contractor who emigrated from Scotland at the age of 27. He was responsible for building homes and schools in this community, as well as the first Presbyterian Church in Bradford that once stood on John Street. The one-storey, three-bay cottage has a square plan with a centre hall. A box hall was typical for this style. The house has a symmetrical façade and a simple, gable roof. The grade-level entrance has a single entrance door with a rectangular, glazed transom. The large, 8/8, double-hung windows have plain, wood trim and sills. The house has wood frame construction covered with aluminum siding. According to the 2000 inventory, the original siding was probably wood. It also notes that the building was largely obscured by trees and that it probably had few decorative details originally. A photo (and brief article about the renovations) in Century Home Magazine (April 2002, page 18) reveals that the two cedar trees in the front yard have been removed and that a porch has been added at the front of the house. (1, 2, 3, 5, Century Home Magazine)
The house located at 64 James St. was considered to be new when this photo was taken in 1995. The area behind the house was once used for lawn bowling. (1)
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)
The Standard Bank is located at 65 and 67 Holland St. West. It was built in the Romanesque Revival style around 1860-1900. O.M. Seim, previous owner of the Bradford Witness newspaper (1916-1932), and his family (Gordon, Ken, Marjorie, Maurice and Betty) once lived here. Dr. McMichael, a dentist, lived on John St. but had his practice here many years ago. Aubrey Stewart (and her son Bruce) at one time had an Insurance company here and the living quarters were rented. The building was eventually converted into apartments. The commercial building (67 Holland St. W.) is set close to the street. Originally, there was a large, walk-in vault at the rear of the building on the ground floor. Residential quarters were on the second floor. The two-storey building has tall window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and an asymmetrical façade with a simplified ‘temple’ form. There is a medium-pitched, ‘pediment’ gable roof facing the front and a tympanum with a rose window. Brick pilasters support a plain cornice and frieze at both the ground and second floors to create the image of a classical Greek temple (combined with the more Roman arch form). The commercial entrance is contained within one of the two corbelled arches and is raised slightly. A double-panelled door is topped by a multi-paned transom light. The ground floor bank window is set into a corbelled arch opening with a transom light and stone or concrete lug sills. Upper windows are set into rectangular openings with transom lights. The cornice and frieze at the ground and second floors are ‘supported’ on corbelled brick brackets. This building has brick masonry construction and a cut-stone foundation. The residential wing (65 Holland St. West) is set further back from the street to provide greater privacy to the living quarters. It takes a more recessive form with an open verandah at the ground floor and an enclosed porch on the upper floor running the full width of the house. There is a hipped roof on the residential wing. The entrance door to the house also a transom light, but like the rest of the residential wing, it does not have the rich texture or detail found on the more public portion of the building. The residential porch posts, railing, door, and windows are not original. According to the 2000 inventory, the structure is in good condition with many original details remaining. (1, 2, 3) Please contact the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library (905-775-3328) if you have any other information about this photo.
The mid-block building located at 65 John St. East was built pre-1900 in the Gothic Revival style. It was the home of Miss Hayes and her two sisters many years ago. They were known for lending money, especially to John Rob and family. The first Dutch family to move to Bradford (in 1925), the Hayes worked on the marsh and owned a greenhouse on Back Street. After the sisters died, the west lot was sold to Vic Turner in 1948. The 1½-storey, four-bay ‘farmhouse’ has a modified, ‘L’-shaped plan with an off-centre hall and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The single-door entrance is raised slightly above grade level, the steps are not original, and there may have been a verandah originally. Large window openings contain replacement, ground-floor windows. Upper-floor, 2/2 sash windows with plain, wood trim may be original. Wood frame construction is clad with vinyl siding and the building has a parged, stone foundation. The original cladding was probably wood cove siding. According to the 2000 inventory, this modest house has probably not changed significantly since it was built. (1, 2, 3)
The John Cook House is located mid-block on the east side at 65 Moore Street. It is set well back and was built around 1880 in the Gothic Revival style. The building was owned by the Cook family for many years. Originally, a series of sheds ran along the south side of Joseph Street from Moore Street almost to the houses on Barrie Street. These sheds were owned by John (Jack) Cook. He ran the local livery business and he was also a seed merchant. Fred (the son of Jack) lived in this house after his father’s death. Fred was an insurance agent, town politician, school board member, and a lay minister. The Fred C. Cook Elementary School in Bradford is named after him. The 1½-storey, ‘L’-shaped building has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and a steeply-pitched, gable roof. There is an elegant, shallow-pitched, hip roof at the porch. It has elaborately-carved, wooden brackets at the support posts. There are (replacement) sash windows with wide, wood trim and projected, wooden hood moulding above the windows. The entrance door has the original transom and sidelight. Wood frame construction is clad with stained board and batten siding and the house has a stone foundation. The original cladding was stucco. According to the 2000 inventory, the house has been maintained well and it is pleasingly renovated. It also notes that although the shutters are not original, they are a tasteful (and not inappropriate) addition. (1, 2, 3)
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)
The building that is located at 67 Church St. (on the southeast corner of Church and James Streets) was built pre-1900 in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. It was moved to this site many years ago. The Robinson family once lived in this house. Mr. Robinson worked for Spence Lumber and he belonged to the Band. He had a daughter named Jean. The one-storey, three-bay cottage has a rectangular plan with a centre hall. A box hall was typical for this style. It also has a symmetrical façade and a shallow-pitched, hip roof. The enclosed porch (added after the house was moved to this location) has a hip roof with a grade level entrance. It has a simple entrance with a single door opening to one side of the porch. Single windows to the primary rooms are found on each side of the porch. Double-hung, 2/2 windows appear to be original. The building has wood frame construction, wood shiplap siding, and a parged, stone foundation. There is a single, brick, masonry chimney at the exterior south wall. According to the 2000 inventory, this modest cottage probably had few decorative details originally. It notes that other than the building’s form, few existing building elements appear to be original. Existing James Street appears to be built at a higher level than this lot. This indicates that the house was moved here before the street was paved or town services were installed. (1, 3)
The Broughton House is a mid-block building located at 67 James Street. It was built pre-1900 in the Neoclassical Duplex style. This structure was the home of the Post Master (H.S. Broughton) many years ago. The two-storey, rectangular building has a simple form with a shallow-pitched, gable roof and a centre hall plan. It has a four-bay organization. This is similar to typical, duplex arrangements with an even number of bays. The paired front doors (with transom above) are original. They are half glazed with decorative panelling below. Originally, the building had a wide, front verandah with a shed roof. The broad entrance has been remodelled and is now non-functional. First-floor windows were originally in the same pattern as those on the second floor. Metal siding and shutters conceal alterations to the original building. The original construction was probably wood frame with wood cove siding. There is a parged, stone foundation and a cellar. Originally, chimneys were placed symmetrically at each end of the gable roof. According to the 2000 inventory, other than the building’s basic form, few original features remain. (1, 3)
