The William Melbourne House is located at 97 Church St. (at the corner of Church and Frederick Streets). It was built in the Gothic Revival style in the 1870-80’s by Bill Curry. The 1½-storey, three-bay ‘cottage’ has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and a steeply-pitched, gable roof. There is a centre gable over the entrance. The building has a rectangular plan and a centre entrance hall. A ‘Regency Style’ entrance has arched tracery in the multi-paned transom and sidelights. The shallow pediment, entablature, and pilasters framing the entrance indicate a neoclassical influence. The bay windows at the ground floor have three-sided, angular projections and a hip roof. A semi-circular, arched window with a transom of multi-paned fanlights is located fully within the centre gable at the second floor as well as decorative gingerbread along the eaves and verges. There is a wood ‘drop’ or pendant suspended from the mid-point of the centre gable. The finial was originally above the gable. The cornice around the roof of the bay windows is decorated with dentils. Paired brick chimneys (with stacks set on the diagonal) are found at each side of the house. The house has wood frame construction with painted stucco cladding (1933) on the original wood cove siding. It has a stone foundation. The double-hung windows and storm entrance door are not original. According to the 2000 inventory, the house is in excellent condition with many original features. The gingerbread trim was removed and the stucco was replaced with vinyl siding after the inventory. (1, 3)
The mid-block building located at 90 Church St. was built pre-1900 in the Gothic Revival style. The 1½-storey, five-bay ‘farmhouse’ has a modified ‘L’-shaped plan with an off-centre hall, an asymmetrical façade, and a medium-pitched, gable roof. The open, covered porch with a hip roof is raised above grade. It is a replacement. The house originally had a full-width verandah supported by wooden posts. The upper-floor windows are offset from the ground-floor windows. There are small window openings with low floor to ceiling heights and plain, wood trim and sills. The double-hung windows and shutters are not original. The house has wood frame construction, vinyl siding, and a parged, stone foundation. Originally, the cladding was probably wood cove siding. According to the 2000 inventory, few remaining features are original other than the somewhat atypical form. It appears (by its size) that the portion of the house where the entrance is located is original and that the side wing was added later. That could explain the slight setback in the façade wall where the two join. It also notes that this modest house probably had few decorative details originally. (1, 3)
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 mid-block building located at 23 Church St. was built pre-1900 in the Neoclassical style. The two-storey, five-bay structure has a rectangular, centre-hall plan and a medium-pitched, gable roof. There are chimneys at either end of the gable. The openings are symmetrically located, but the size, configuration, and material of the windows have been altered from the original. A Regency-like porch has been completely infilled. Originally, it would have been open and supported by simple wood columns. The house has wood frame construction with vinyl siding. The original siding was probably wood. According to the 2000 inventory, alterations to the front façade are unsympathetic with the original building. It also notes that few existing building elements appear to be original other than the building’s base form. (1, 3)
This structure was originally a shed located on property owned by Tom Saint. It was moved to its current site at 25 Bingham St. (south of Centre Street) onto property owned by George “Duke” Lowe. After the shed was restored as a house, Duke married Mrs. Storey. Their four children (Clara, George, Dorothy and Betty) joined Mrs. Storey’s previous children (Charlie, Jack, Roy and Harvey). It later became the home of Ted and Clara Brockwell for a number of years after WWII. (1, 2)
The one-storey house once located on the west side at 44 Drury St. had stucco cladding originally. Many years ago it was the home of Fred McKay, his wife, and son (Bruce). Fred was a retired farmer. He had noted gardens (asparagus, strawberries, raspberries) on a number of lots around town. Fred worked for Thompson Fisher in the old skating rink. He also ran the pool room and sold gramophones over the Campbell’s drugstore on Holland Street. Chris Wren and his family lived here years later. Chris was a store merchant (from Mabel) and a painter and paper hanger. The house was demolished (in the 1990’s?) to make an exit and sewer connection from Joe Magani’s grocery store to Drury Street. (1, 2)
The Clarence Wood House is located mid-block on the west side at 220 Barrie Street. It was built around 1880 in the Gothic Revival style. This structure was the home of Clarence and Bessie Wood many years ago. The 1½-storey, ‘L’-shaped building has large window openings with high floor to ceiling heights and a medium-pitched, gable roof. There are decorative, wooden brackets at the front porch and decorative trim at the gable. The dichromatic brick quoins, belt course pattern, and window headers (with keystones) are not original. They are, however, considered to be in keeping with the age of the building. Replacement brick at the window heads appears to have twentieth-century steel reinforcement. The house has brick masonry construction. According to the 2000 inventory, the projected greenhouse bay window and skylights are unsympathetic with the original design. It also notes that other renovations are somewhat in keeping with the original building design. (1, 3)
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)
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 Nesbitt House is located mid-block on the west side at 88 Barrie Street. The two-storey, ‘L’-shaped building with a hip roof was built around 1920 in the Eclectic Edwardian style. The shallow, two-storey bay with a wide projecting gable roof is a classical, pediment-like form. The porch roof and balcony above are supported by rectangular colonnettes on brick piers. Other Edwardian features are the large, double-hung windows with shorter, upper-sash windows that are proportioned to resemble rectangular transoms. The wood-shingle texture at the exposed gable is an Italianate feature and the roof curb is reminiscent of an Italianate motif. There are precast lug sills and column bases. The house has load-bearing, brick masonry construction, a stone foundation, and painted-wood porch details. According to the 2000 inventory, the house has been maintained well. (1, 3)
