Fancy Billy

On April 12, 1907, carpenter John M. Locke took out a water permit for this house at 1746 William Street. He is listed as living there in 1908 with his wife, Martha. Locke worked as a carpenter for the Royal City Planing Mills and at the E.H. Heaps Sawmill, which was located at the bottom of Victoria Drive - a short walk away.

Locke was born in Prince Edward Island in 1871 and his wife, Martha Caimes, was born near Stratford, Ontario in 1867. 

A permit for a garage ($50) was issued on June 14, 1912. The house is a Colonial Revival style with a projecting front porch and a large dormer on the hipped roof. The dormer probably isn't part of the original design.

This 2 1/2 storey tall home at 1556 William Street is an elaborate version of the Gabled Vernacular Style. It has a closed front gable and the porch is attached to its rectangular main structure. The structure is more elaborate than others of this style because of the bay windows and balcony set on the porch roof.

It is listed as 1910 but no building permit has been found. The City Directories list the date of 1908 for this home with James Springer, a logger, living there in 1909, and Harry Christiansen, another logger, taking residence in 1910.

 
The strongly triangular front gable, saddlebag dormers and sleeping porch proclaim this house at 1544 William Street to be an Edwardian-Style house. The building permit is dated April 6, 1910 and was issued to Passage and Tomlin, a realtor/builder with offices located on Commercial Drive.

The original house was valued at $2,000 and is first shown on a map in 1911. It was listed vacant for that year and the next but in 1913, a missionary by the name of John Spencer moved in.

Thanks to the Grandview Heritage Blog for the information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.