Horace B. Smith House

Built in 1913 for the widowed Mrs Elizabeth Robinson (1857-1927). It was a replica of her home for the last thirty-four years, Beverley House, that had lost the battle to urbanisation after having been in her late husband's family for an hundred years. She salvaged many of the original features from the old house and retrofitted them into the new: the walnut panelling, bookshelves, three gilded chandeliers, and the fireplaces from the drawing room. In 1921, Mrs Robinson downsized to 62 Bernard Avenue and sold the house to Horace B. Smith (1864-1939), a Director of Canada Steamship Lines and President of the Collingwood Shipbuilding Co. etc. That year, the house was the scene of the wedding reception of Horace's only surviving daughter, Jean, on the occasion of her marriage to the most decorated war hero in Canadian history, World War One fighter ace and recipient of the Victoria Cross, Lt.-Colonel Billy Barker....