115 UPTON ROAD, SAULT STE. MARIE HISTORY On May 22, 1902, William L. Beers, a local hotel-keeper, sold lots 4 and 5 of the Simpson subdivision to Martha J. Stewart for $750. A few months later, on August 4, 1902, her husband Edward L. Stewart, the manager of the International Lumber Company, sold to her lot 6 for $425. By June 19th, Edward Stewart had begun the excavation for his residence on Upton Road, then estimated to cost $3,500. The contractor, Thomas McKissock, had the frame of the house up by late July. That same month the Sault Star noted that the basement of the house was constructed of concrete and had cost $1,000. The house, 58 feet by 34 feet, was to be finished in red quartered stone. The price had escalated to $6,000. By 1908, the Stewarts no longer resided at 115 Upton. The house was the residence of various tenants, including F. Hedley Marsh, manager of the Imperial Bank of Canada, Alfred M. Peters, manager of the Bank of Montreal, and J. Frater Taylor, vice-president of the Lake Superior Corporation. The Stewarts, however, continued their ownership of 115 Upton until July, 1911 when the house was sold for $7,500 to Archibald D. McLean, manager of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. Archibald McLean sold the house in 1918 to Michael Paris, a merchant, for the exact same price he had originally paid. Like the Stewarts, McLean had not resided at 115 Upton for the last three years of his ownership, possibly indicating that 1915 was the year he had moved to London, Ontario. Michael Paris died in May, 1923. Maria, his widow, carried on the family grocery and butcher business and continued living at the house until October, 1925 when she sold it to Robert A. Campbell, an electrical engineer, and Robert George Campbell, the city clerk. In September, 1947, Jane M. Campbell, widow of Robert George Campbell, sold her half interest in the house to Robert A.Campbell for $3,000. Robert Campbell maintained ownership of the house until 1967 when Margaret Anne Barnett, and Lawrence Fred Barnett, both tenants at 115 Upton, purchased the house. In 1971 Patrick Laurence Rooney and lone Anne Rooney, its present owners, purchased 115 Upton Road. The Rooneys subdivided the property in 1979. The house, however, was not affected. The home is now owned by Dr. and Mrs. Bruce Skinner. BUILDING DESCRIPTION The home at 115 Upton Road is a substantial, gracious residence sited north of the Hearst residence on the west side of Upton. The plan is cruciform shaped with the head forming the main east elevation. The arms and head of the cross are of approximately equal height and width. The main facade and the verandah which wraps it are the most prominent features of the house. The walls of the centre portion of the main elevation are splayed at both first and second floors giving this section of the house a turret-like appearance. This feature, combined with the angles of the tent roof, which rises above the remaining roof levels, further emphasises the dominance of the formal living areas of the house. Early photographs of the property indicate the verandah was originally accessed by two sets of identical steps at each end, their location emphasised by the positioning of a classical pediment. The tympanum of each pediment has been treated with applied battens vertically and horizontally to give a panelled effect. Below the tympanum a continuous horizontal frieze has been created with a series of wood spindles alternating with one and two disks. This frieze must be considered one of the major decorative elements of the house adding a lightness of effect, matching with the lattice work below the verandah and equating well with the rythym of the ballustrading, all in contrast to-the robust massing of the house itself. The columns supporting the verandah roof are of unusual design, consisting of eight inch square posts with shamfered corners terminating in a capital consisting of a sphere sitting on top of a square abacus but also capped with an identical item which in turn carries a stub post supporting the veranda roof structure. Although the verandah is classical in style, the remainder of the house has a distinctly Victorian Gothic air. Eastlake influence is also apparent in the robust posts, balusters and brackets which contrast with the finer details of the frieze and lattice work; together they emphasised the three dimensional quality of the house. Early photographs of the house indicate that all the main framing posts both horizontal and vertical were emphasized in light paint colours whereas the horizontal siding and shingles were painted in a much darker colour. Although the house has been reclad in a modern siding and the original second floor south-east balcony enclosed, the renovations were carried out with considerable sympathy for the original sense of scale and much credit must be given to the present owners for the care with which they have updated the residence whilst retaining its original handsome character.