William J. Scarr completed this Queen Anne Revival-influenced Vernacular style 1 ½-storey wood frame dwelling, situated at 350 Saunders Street, in 1899.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of this modest 1899 dwelling mixing Vernacular and Queen Anne style elements is associated with the significance of the builder, William J. Scarr, and the imprint he left on the Fredericton housing stock. William J. Scarr, only son of Irish immigrant parents Joseph and Mary (Coulson) Scarr, entered the local building trade by the 1870s. After a brief turn as a mill owner outside of Fredericton in the early 1880s, Scarr returned to Fredericton. Labouring under the competitive tender system, Scarr won his building contracts by underbidding the competition. By the 1890s, William J. Scarr made a bold move in the building trade when he began to build houses on speculation, becoming self-employed. Scarr created his own housing template, building ten similarly styled cottages on Westmorland and Saunders Streets between 1896 and 1901. This Scarr cottage, completed in 1899, was one of the last houses he built on Saunders Street.
Scarr built houses which appealed to working class families, while also offering all the modern conveniences. When Scarr offered this house for sale in 1899, he was prepared to manage it as a rental property if it did not sell. However, the house sold quickly, meeting local housing demand. The property changed hands twice before
Roy Smith purchased the house in 1921. Smith had been renting the house for a number of years before assuming ownership. This Scarr cottage has been occupied by the Smith family for nearly a century.
Character-Defining Elements
The character-defining elements identified for the dwelling located at 350 Saunders Street include:
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1 ½-storey wood frame dwelling clad in painted clapboard and wood trim
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Vernacular form with restrained Queen Anne Revival style elements
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medium pitched gable roof with returned eaves, oriented towards the street
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large rectangular windows, often paired
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open, pillared side entry porch