This building was built in 1876 by John Maclean Stevenson, a lawyer and reeve of Bradford from 1871-1877. It was sold to the Lukes Family in 1910, who owned and operated the Bradford Flouring Mill since 1878, which was one of the best equipped mills in the province. It is a copy of Queen Victoria's residence, Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, but built on a smaller scale. It was later occupied by Egerton Ryerson, a famous Methodist preacher, educator, writer and printer (Ryerson Press in Toronto). He died in 1882. In 1949 the building was called 'The Convent' because it became St. Mary's Convent of the Assumption, housing Ursuline Sisters.
In 1969 it became an apartment building but was torn down in the late 1980's.