This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
203 Dunlop St. W.
Barrie’s historic West Village neighbourhood is filled with lovely older homes. The classically styled home at 203 Dunlop Street West, built on the former Perry Estate, is an example of the fine houses in this area.
The Dunlop Street property (actually Elizabeth Street until renamed in 1952) was owned by the James Richardson family from about 1862, according to records. William Richardson and his wife Catherine Rennick left Hawick, Roxboroughshire, Scotland, landing in Quebec in 1818.
While at sea, their son, James Alexander Arkle Richardson, was born in 1817. The Richardson’s, who would have seven sons, had settled along the Penetanguishene Road by 1821.
The Richardsons and all their sons would be pioneers in Vespra Township.
James Richardson, a farmer, would have four children with his first wife Mary Elizabeth, and nine children with his second wife Dinah Elizabeth. His second born son, Robert, born in 1856, grew up in Vespra Township and learned the wheelwright trade as a young man. He spent 4 years as a traveling salesman with a nursery company where he acquired a great interest and a familiarity with orchards from Barrie to Gravenhurst.
In 1883, Robert married Sarah Roe (born 1858 in Smith’s Falls) and the couple would live in Barrie … at least until their first son was born. Then the lure of farming called to Richardson and he purchased a parcel of forested land at Edenvale, in Vespra Township.
At one time, the area was covered by hardwood and pine forests, but between 1870 and 1875, lumbermen had moved on this enormous timber harvest and by 1876, prospective settlers had acquired much of the land in the Edenvale area. Richardson ran the general store in the village for two years before moving to the farm he purchased and, like other pioneers in the community, began the hard work of clearing the land.
The Richardsons had a full life in Edenvale: Robert was superintendent of the Methodist Sunday School and school trustee of S.S. No. 10 West, built in 1895 on land that he donated.
After 30 years of farming and the country life, Robert and Sarah would move back to town – to 203 Elizabeth Street. Robert now had more time for gardening and fishing, his hobbies, but remained active in his faith. He was a member of the Board of Stewards, an elder and a Sunday School teacher at Central United Church.
When he was 82 years old, Robert would pass away and was buried from his Elizabeth Street home. Almost 10 years later, Sarah would pass away at their home as well.
Insurance man Henry Sweatman and his wife Arabella would live briefly in the former Richardson home before selling in 1949 to someone very well known in Barrie: Roy Lem.
Roy Lem’s restaurant at the corner of then Elizabeth Street and Maple Avenue, was a vibrant and popular business on the south side of Barrie’s theatre block. The building itself, quite possibly the oldest on Dunlop Street, was originally the M.H. Spencer Toronto Tea store.
Built in 1867, its quality design was far above the standard for stores of that era. Constructed of brick, the building’s parapet walls were erected three feet above the roof and the shingles were laid in mortar to create a cement roof, so it was just about as fireproof as it could be.
In 1871, owner Michael Harry Spencer, the merchant, ran against Robert Simpson, the brewer, for mayor of the newly incorporated Town of Barrie ... and lost.
In the early 1920’s, this building was the first location of Robinson Hardware. If the paper trail is accurate, the building title transferred from Charlie Robinson to Roy Lem in 1953, shown together here at Roy’s home in 1951. For decades, Roy Lem’s restaurant was the downtown ‘go-to’ spot for great food.
It was also the place of many Lem family dinners, celebrations and special occasions. Gatherings could also include downtown business neighbours, such as Vi and Joe Waterer of Camera Craft.
In time, Roy’s sons Jim and Dick would work in the family business as well. In 1962, Jim and his wife Judy would open the Miramar Gardens lounge next to Roy’s Café.
The large, pleasant Dunlop Street home remained in the Lem family until 1971, the year Roy, born in 1874, passed away. His widow, Wong Cok, died several years later in 1978.
The big, beautiful home of these longtime, well-respected Barrie residents has retained several of its architectural characteristics.
The lovely cross gable-roofed home with wide stacked bay windows on the west side of the house still features a generous wrap around verandah, diamond shingles in the gables, and decorative dentil cornice and brackets under the eaves.
