348 Botsford Street.
1907Edwardian Four Square
The Story
On Botsford Street stands a handsome yellow-brick house, built in 1907 and distinguished by a broad verandah running across its front.
The house is an example of the Edwardian Four Square, a popular early twentieth-century style with simple, boxy proportions and a hipped roof. At 348 Botsford, a projecting bay window adds character to the otherwise balanced design. Its broad verandah, carried on white columns above brick piers, is among its most recognizable features.
The Town of Newmarket identifies the property as the John J. McDonald House. The lot was still vacant when Letitia D. McDonald purchased it in 1906. Her husband, John J. McDonald, was a carpenter from East Gwillimbury. The Town dates the building to 1907, but the surviving account does not say whether the McDonalds built it for themselves or lived in it.
In 1910 the property passed to Reginald Stallard, whose family was associated with the butchering trade on Main Street. In April 1911, the house was connected to the Bell telephone exchange. A photograph dated 1913, preserved by the Newmarket Historical Society and captioned “Residence of J. R. Stallard, Botsford,” shows the family gathered at the front steps.
Look beyond the house in that photograph and another feature of the old neighbourhood comes into view: a large barn and the comparatively open space around the property. The image records not only the building, but also a Botsford Street that has gradually filled in around it.
02The house and its verandah
Then & Now
The People
Butcher · Newmarket merchant
Reginald & Mary Ellen Stallard
Reginald Stallard belonged to a Newmarket family closely connected with the town's butchering trade. The Town's heritage research identifies him as a butcher working in a Main Street business associated with his father, John Stallard.
Contemporary newspapers add a glimpse of that commercial life. In January 1907, the Newmarket Era reported that Stallard & Hill had bought the former Dominion Hotel property with plans to adapt the front of the building into a modern butcher shop. The notice belongs to the story of the family business, rather than to the Botsford Street house itself.
Reginald married Mary Ellen Brown on June 25, 1907. Their daughter Dorris Elizabeth was born in 1908 and their son John Reginald in 1911. By 1910 the family was associated with 348 Botsford Street, where the old photograph preserves a view of the home during the Stallard years.
Reginald died in Newmarket on May 29, 1922, aged 44. A surviving portrait held by the Newmarket Historical Society puts a face to the name recorded in the house's history.
04Dates of Note
A Historical Timeline
The vacant property changes hands, according to the Town’s heritage research.
Letitia D. McDonald purchases the vacant lot. Her husband, John J. McDonald, is recorded as a carpenter from East Gwillimbury.
The Town dates the construction of the house to this year. Reginald Stallard and Mary Ellen Brown marry in June.
The property passes to J. Reginald Stallard, a Newmarket butcher associated with the Main Street business Stallard & Hill.
In April, Reginald Stallard’s Botsford Street residence is connected to the Bell telephone exchange.
Reginald Stallard dies in Newmarket on May 29, aged 44.
Former residents Richard and Mary Baker photograph the house and its distinctive front verandah.
The house and its setting
The verandah on Botsford.
The verandah has long been one of the house's defining features. It is visible in the historical Stallard photograph and remains prominent in the Baker photographs from 2008, an unusually clear visual link between two eras of the building's life.
The Town of Newmarket includes 348 Botsford Street on its heritage register under the name John J. McDonald House, recognizing its architectural and historical interest.
Research
Sources & notes
Town of Newmarket, Municipal Register of Listed Heritage Properties, John J. McDonald House (348 Botsford Street)
Records the vacant lot passing to Letitia D. McDonald in 1906, identifies her husband John J. McDonald as a carpenter, assigns a 1907 construction date and records J. Reginald Stallard as owner in 1910. The house is on Newmarket’s heritage register, which is not itself proof of designation.Catherine Nasmith Architect, Riverdale Heritage Conservation District Plan, Phase 1 (2008), section 6.2.3
Describes the Edwardian Four Square type and its square massing, hipped roof and front porches on masonry piers. This is a comparative architectural reference, not a classification of 348 Botsford Street by the report.Livabl, “Art Deco or Edwardian: A pictorial guide to early 20th century Toronto housing styles” (2015)
Uses the spelling “Edwardian Four Square” for this early twentieth-century house type.Newmarket Historical Society, photographs NHS202314115 and NHS202314114
The house photograph is captioned “Residence of J. R. Stallard, Botsford” and is dated 1913 by the inscription on its reverse: “Dad, Mother, Doris, Jack 1913.” The associated portrait depicts Reginald Stallard.Newmarket Era, April 21, 1911, “Telephones”
The Bell Telephone Company reports connections added to its exchange that April, listing J. R. Stallard on Botsford Street.Newmarket Era, January 18, 1907, “New Butcher Shop”
Reports that Stallard & Hill had purchased the former Dominion Hotel property on Main Street and planned to adapt its front for a butcher shop. It documents the family’s commercial context, not an event at the Botsford Street house.Ontario marriage record, Reginald Stallard and Mary Ellen Brown, June 25, 1907; census and family records
Family records connect Reginald with Mary Ellen Brown and their children, Dorris Elizabeth and John Reginald. A family-history compilation gives Reginald’s name as Reginald John, while the Town register uses J. Reginald.Ontario death registration, Reginald Stallard, May 29, 1922
Establishes his death in Newmarket at age 44. This agrees with the year in the Town’s heritage entry.Richard and Mary Baker, photographs of 348 Botsford Street, 2008
Photographs of the house and verandah by former residents. Reproduced with permission from Richard Baker’s family, with thanks to Jennifer Baker.
About the McDonald years
The Town records the purchase of the vacant lot by Letitia McDonald in 1906 and dates construction to 1907. John J. McDonald was a carpenter, but the available account does not establish whether he built this particular house or whether the McDonalds lived here.
Images. The 1913 house photograph and Reginald Stallard portrait are from the Newmarket Historical Society collection. The October 2026 exterior photograph, shown in the hero and Then & Now, was supplied for The Old Houses of Newmarket by the photographer. Photographs of the Botsford verandah by the late Richard Baker, reproduced with the kind permission of his family. Special thanks to Jennifer Baker for her assistance.
Historical record · House 005