The Suburban Home

George M. Bayley of Ottawa is thought to be the architect of 207 High Street.[3] While this is difficult to confirm, a newspaper ad from the appropriate time points to this being a possibility. The ad is a call for construction services to build a Carleton Place home under the direction of Bayley. Bayley also built many residential homes and other buildings in a similar style for other upper-class clients.[4] The Queen Anne revival style was popular at this time, which was often a dramatic mix of shapes including turrets and decorative exterior elements that demonstrated the status of the person inside the house.[5] Elements of this style can be seen in 207 High Street and some of Bayley’s other work.[6] While 207 High Street does not fit neatly into categories of domestic architecture styles, it reflects the trends of upper-class suburban architecture that are both practical designs and demonstrations of status.

Physical elements of this house—including the hints of Queen Anne Revival style, the large scale, and the location on a large suburban lot—position it within Canadian domestic architectural history that reflects the growing wealth in Canadian cities and smaller towns, including Carleton Place. Middle to upper-class Canadian domestic architecture in Canada from the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century was less likely to be an overt display of wealth compared to styles found in some American suburbs.[7] While opulent homes were present in Canada, notably in the Montreal and Toronto regions, the financial success of smaller towns such as Carleton Place was reflected in the growth of lower density neighbourhoods with large houses that held the influence of various revival styles.[8] These large suburban homes--like 207 High Street--were often built by individuals who had found success as managers in the industrial sector.[9]

The Findlay family were prominent figures in the industrial growth of Carleton Place as they founded and managed the Findlay's Limited foundry, which was a driving force behind the industrial development and economic growth of the town. With the success of the Findlay family, 207 High Street serves as an excellent example of suburban domestic architecture for upper-class families in a growing Canadian town.[10] 207 High Street also included a dedicated billiards room for leisure and entertainment, now a living room, and a servant's quarters—rooms which would only have been found in an upper-class home.[?]

Floor plans for 207 High Street are unavailable, but the house has similar characteristics to this plan of a house influenced by the Queen Anne Revival style from the book "The Radford American Homes: 100 Houses Illustrated."  Home designs from catalogues and architects' pattern books were popular during the early twentieth century and appealed to different price ranges--including the upper class.[11] So, there is also a possibility that 207 High Street was modelled off designs from a pattern book.

A Family Home

207 High Street is a place where important family and community histories of Carleton Place connect. After being built by a member of the Findlay, the Galbraiths lived in the home from 1906 to 1929. Robert Ayr Galbraith—the son of a Scottish immigrant who became successful in Lanark County politics—was the husband of Mary Elizabeth Bayne and worked as a prospector and railway engineer. The couple had two children: Daniel Murray, born in 1895, and Jean Isabel, born in 1906. With the railway running through Carleton Place, Galbraith could provide a comfortable life for his family in the High Street home. According to the 1911 census, the family employed a maid.

In 1915, at the age of 20, Daniel Galbraith left home to attend aviation school in Daytona, Ohio. We went to fight in the First World War as a fighter pilot in November 1915. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross twice and given the Croix de Guerre by the government of France for his victories during service. He married Nora O’Brien in Ireland before returning to Carleton Place. He tragically died in March 1921 in a car accident. His father, Robert, passed away later the same year.

Discover photos of 207 High Street residents and the memories they captured by flipping through the album below:

Click on the map to visit 207 High Street today and explore the neighbourhood:

Notes: