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The Dr. Ellis House is located mid-block on the west side at 84 Church Street. It was built pre-1900 in the Gothic Revival Cottage style. Dr. Ellis owned the house in 1900.
The 1½-storey, three-bay structure has a medium-pitched, gable roof and a rectangular plan with a centre hall. The building originally had a symmetrical façade with a centre gable over the front entrance. There are single windows (to the primary rooms) with high floor to ceiling heights on each side of the entrance. The covered, open porch has a flat roof supported on a simple, wood entablature and four ‘half columns’ set onto brick piers on a stone foundation. There is a single door with ¾ height, glass sidelights set above recessed, wood panels and a glass transom at the entrance. The second-storey window above the porch is set halfway into the centre gable in a full, arched opening with brick voussoirs. This window is a full-height casement with a fanlight above the opening onto the roof of the porch and is not original to the house. Double-hung windows at the ground floor are set into segmented, arched openings with brick voussoirs. The 2/2 windows appear to be original. Wood frame construction is clad with brick siding and there is a stone foundation. A single, brick masonry chimney is set in from the exterior north wall. An enclosed, brick-clad extension has been added to the front of the house (adjacent to the porch). Access to the open porch appears to have been changed to the side with new, precast stairs added. According to the 2000 inventory, the front addition has destroyed the original symmetry of the façade and it is not in keeping with the character of the house. (1, 3)

The single-family residence located at 84 Barrie St. (on the northwest corner of Barrie and Joseph Streets) was built post-1900 in the Eclectic Edwardian style. The two-storey, ‘L’-shaped building has a hip roof. The projecting, two-storey bay has a wide, projecting gable roof. Edwardian features also include the generous fenestration accentuated by keystones and projecting sills (at the bay windows). Queen Anne features include the variety of textures and materials such as rusticated block on the main building and the wood shingles at the exposed gable. The “wrap-around” nature of the ground-floor verandah and the second-storey balcony are Regency Revival features. Its moulded roof curb is an Italianate feature. This building has load-bearing, block masonry construction and a block foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the replacement balcony and the post supports are unsympathetic with the original design. (1, 3)

The mid-block structure located at 83 Holland St. East was built in the Ontario Vernacular Cottage style. It was constructed pre-1900 on what was once the site of a pop manufacturing plant. According to local history, bottles were still being unearthed many years later. After the plant closed, the property became the site of a blacksmith shop run by Bill Cukens. The house seen in this photo originally had a back kitchen and wood shed at the rear, as well as a large, two-storey barn with loft above (for horse feed). It was the home of Bob McKinstry, his wife and children Michael (Mike), Maisil, and Dorothy. Bob was a huge man and a blacksmith for several lumber companies after the local mills folded. He was also a noted field lacrosse player on the team that won the championship in 1905 (1907?). Bob and his son both played lacrosse until their worn-out legs forced them to quit. In those days, lacrosse players worked ten-hour days at hard physical labour, played lacrosse for a couple of hours, and then ran the six miles to Bond Head to cool off. Mike was a bookkeeper who also worked for his father in the garage and blacksmith shop. Maisil became a nurse and Dorothy worked in a restaurant and stayed at home to look after her family.

The one-storey, three-bay ‘cottage’ has a rectangular plan with a centre hall, a symmetrical façade, and a shallow-pitched, gable roof. The enclosed porch has a hip roof and the entrance is raised above grade level. There is a simple entrance with a single door with windows on each side. The porch stairs are not original and the entire porch may be a later addition. There are double-hung windows at the ground floor. The 2/2 widows appear to be original and are set into simple, rectangular openings with plain, wood surrounds and sills. Exterior aluminum storm windows are a later addition. The building has wood frame construction with vinyl siding and a stone-rubble foundation. It had wood cove siding originally. According to the 2000 inventory, the building’s form is one of the few existing original building elements. It also notes that the modest cottage probably had few decorative details originally. (1, 2, 3)

This house is located at 83 David Street. (1)

The Bradford Presbyterian Church was once located at 81 John St. West (on the northwest corner of Church and John Streets). A Presbyterian church in Bradford dates back to 1856. The original frame building was built on this site and used until 1893. At that time it was sold to the Anglican Church and moved a short distance north to be used as the Parish Hall. The structure seen in this photo (from 1996) was designed in the Romanesque style by Siddell Baker Architects in Toronto. It was constructed in 1893 for $5,000 by local builder Dougald (George) MacDonald. George was able to do short-hand blueprints and he was also the Sunday school teacher. The church pipe organ was installed in 1915 (with a portion of it funded by the Carnegie Foundation). A seven-foot section of interior, cornice molding fell off and crashed through some front seating and the floor and landed in the basement in 1937. It was rediscovered years later in George MacDonald’s barn.
The 1½-storey building had a modified, cruciform plan with an apse, narthex, and square and polygonal entrance towers. There was a steeply-pitched, gable roof with pyramidal and polygonal roofs on the towers. This structure was a complex massing of heavy, simple forms, each of which had a clear function. The main entrance was through a large, round-arched doorway with a crescent-shaped transom light and a heavy, panelled, wood door. It was set into a high, square tower at the southeast corner of the church and it marked the site as a landmark within the town. Tall, narrow, window openings had thin windows with a vertical emphasis. Some secondary windows were set in rectangular openings (but with the same narrow proportions). Windows having round-arched openings of various sizes in groups, and as singles, lit the nave. The simplicity of this church and the lack of typical Romanesque Revival details such as heavy, stone stringcourses and lintels gave the church a Norman feel with its squared tower and massive walls. Square pinnacles topped the four corners of the entrance tower. The building had masonry construction with brick cladding and a cut-stone foundation. Len Saint, a local stone mason and brick layer, did the plastering for the church. There were metal panels on the steeple and tower roofs. According to the 2000 inventory, the church was in excellent condition with many original features.
The congregation moved to St. John’s Presbyterian Church which was located on the Middleton Sideroad (circa 2004). Trinity Anglican Church purchased the old Presbyterian Church building and land in 2004 and the building was demolished in 2005 to provide additional parking for the congregation of Trinity Anglican Church. (1, 3, 4, Trinity Anglican Church Bradford website)

The former Anglican Church Manse is located at 81 Frederick St. (on the northeast corner of Church and Frederick Streets). The structure was built around 1880 in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. The two-storey, rectangular building has a medium-pitched, hip roof. The line at the front façade suggesting that the building originally had a full-width, front porch is another Regency Revival feature. The symmetrical window openings (with high floor to ceiling heights), a centre hall plan, and a wide entrance with sidelights and a transom are neoclassical features. Dichromatic brickwork at the quoins and window labels, as well as the ‘droopy’ label stops at the windows are Gothic Revival features. The house has solid, brick construction and a stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the existing porch and entrance motif are unsympathetic with the original design. It also notes that, unlike the originals, the replacement windows have no muntins. (1, 2, 3)

The mid-block structure located at 79 John St. East was built around 1860-1890’s in the Gothic Revival style. Originally, there was a shed and garage attached to the house at the rear and a vacant lot on the east side. This building was the home of Charles Aitcheson and his wife Carol for many years. He was a painter and decorator and he worked for Bill Sutton. Cyril Mestagh was the next owner of the house. He and his wife Jennie and their daughters (Vera and Gladys Irene) lived here. Cyril was a small, market gardener and a well-known grower. He hauled vegetables to the Toronto market. The house was sold when Cyril retired.
The 1½-storey structure has an ‘L’-shaped plan with a centre hall, a one-storey, rear, kitchen wing and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The asymmetrical façade has an off-centre, front gable above the façade projection. There is a raised, front porch with a shed roof set onto wood posts on brick. The steps, door, windows, and enclosing walls of the porch are not original. This building has small windows with high floor to ceiling heights. A wide, Regency-style, ground- floor window has a wide, centre opening flanked by narrow lights. It is set into a rectangular opening with a plain, wood frame and sill. An upper window is centred above the lower window in the projecting bay. It is also set into a rectangular opening with a plain, wood frame and sill. Only the 2/2 windows in the structure are original. The building has wood frame construction, vinyl siding (not original), and a parged, stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, some original details still remain. (1, 2, 3)

The building located at 79 Holland St. West (on the northeast corner of Holland and Church Streets) was built in the Gothic Revival style around 1890-1910. Wilton Johnson and Irwin Ray, retired farmers, once lived in this house. Wilton worked for years for the Clubines. The previous owner was a tombstone maker who sold tombstones throughout all of Simcoe County.
The two-storey, ‘L’-shaped building has a medium-pitched, gable roof with a gable dormer. This is a typical Gothic Revival feature. Uncharacteristically, however, the dormer eaves do not align with the main roof eaves. A broad, hipped, Regency-like porch roof is supported by an eclectic mixture of forms (including a broad cornice band and half, Doric columns on brick pilasters). The porch railing and stairs are not original. There is a coloured-glass, arched transom over the main-floor, gable-end window. The ground-floor windows are wider than those at the second floor. The house has loadbearing, brick masonry construction and a stone foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the building is an eclectic mixture of styles (suggesting early twentieth-century construction). It also notes that the modern door and railings are unsympathetic with the original design. (1, 2, 3)

The mid-block building located on the north side at 79 Holland St. East was built in the 1890’s in the Eclectic Neoclassical style. The house was built by Mr. Watson for Ed Coombs, his wife and children (Walter, Victor and Evelyn). Ed had moved into town from a farm (on the southwest side of Concession 6) during WWII. He was on the town council and became a reeve. He ran a coal and wood business for years. After Ed’s death, the business was taken over by his son Victor. There was a garage for cars, but Ed did not drive. He had a horse stable and loft above for a single horse that was used to haul one ton of coal. Walter worked all his life for Rogers Coal Co. in Toronto. He lived in the Walker House Hotel until it was demolished.
The two-storey, three-bay house has a symmetrical façade, a centre hall plan, and a medium- pitched, hip roof with a wide overhang. There are large window openings with high floor to ceiling dimensions. The house has arched window heads with stylized keystones and narrow, second-floor windows. It also has a unique, stylized masonry treatment complete with belt course, corner mouldings, and window surrounds. The two-storey, central-bay element was modified in the twentieth century. There is pressed-block construction with replacement siding at the central bay and a parged, block foundation. According to the 2000 inventory, the house has been maintained well. It also notes that the ‘modern’, central bay with aluminum siding and soffits is not sympathetic with the original design. (1, 2, 3)

The Davey House is a large, two-storey house located at 79 Barrie St. (on the northeast corner of Barrie St. and Scanlon Avenue). It was built in the Gothic Revival style around 1880. There was a two-storey, frame barn on the back of the lot originally. Bill Davey and his family - Minto "Scott", Leona, Oswald, Archie, and Margaret - lived here many years ago. Bill was a carpenter’s helper for local builder A.J. Saint. Bill was also a noted lumberman, butcher, and hunter. He owned a slaughterhouse on the west side of Simcoe St. (Picadilly Hill) and a butcher shop at the corner of Holland and Moore Streets. Bill died at his hunt camp in his nineties.
The ‘L’-shaped house sits quite near the street line. It has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and a medium-pitched, gable roof. Elaborately-carved bargeboard trim and finials, a coloured glass, arched transom over a main-floor window, and the original wood lug sills remain. The house has wood frame construction and a stone foundation. Deterioration of the brick veneer at the grade level indicates a lack of adequate, subsurface drainage. An original rear, one-storey addition with a simple shed roof (once used as a summer kitchen) still remains. According to the 2000 inventory, the replacement windows, doors, and the two-storey addition at the entrance are unsympathetic with the original building. (1, 2, 3)