389 Cooper, the Tetbury

389 Cooper was first built some time between 1875 and 1884, per the Woodburn City Directories. Goad (1888) depicts it as a typical two-and-a-half-storey, brick-on-wood single-family house. It would have likely been front-gabled, like the all-brick #379 at the right-hand edge of the picture.

from Goad 1888, sheet 53 — note Cooper Street's original 60' width

#389 was converted to the four-unit Tetbury Apartments circa 1915 (per the Might Directories) using the original's low, somewhat rubbly limestone foundation.  I'm not sure if the front sun-rooms were added at that time or whether the Tetbury originally featured the stacked wooden balconies usual for the period.

In addition to four domestic units, Might (1916) lists a 389½, occupied by "Harrison Ladies Tailor" — commas and apostrophes being deemed a waste of both time and lead.

The Tetbury name harkens to a small town in the Cotswolds of Gloucestershire, England. Until recently, the building sported awnings at the doorway and front window, which lent a shabby dignity now lacking.

the De Vere, 480 Cooper

This six-unit building on Cooper is an example of an older secondary build in Centretown.
Goad's 1888 map depicts 480-482 as a vacant lot.  According to the Ottawa Journal, it was still empty in the fall of 1905, when the rest of the block was filled in.

September 30 1905

Mr. Bangs' name rarely made the news and that, I'd like to think, was good news. The Might Directories listed him as a foreman with the Mortimer Company, a printing firm of long standing that had recently built a new shop on Wellington Street — this, where the storied Cecil Hotel had lately burned down.

Mr. Bangs built a two-and-a-half-storey double (much like the pair still standing directly to the west of the property) and moved into one of the units, #480. I'll assume he rented out #482 as an income property. Goad (1912) shows brick-on-wood-construction.

Scarcely a decade later, Louis De Vere Bangs converted his duplex into an apartment block and named it after himself. The De Vere Apartments debuted in pages of the 1914 Might Directory with all six units already rented. It's likely that Bangs rebuilt on the foundation of his original duplex — the apartments were erected on limestone blocks at a time when poured concrete was becoming popular.

Mr. Bangs did not take a flat at the De Vere. He moved to 18 Glen Avenue (still standing), a cosy two-and-a-half single in Old Ottawa South.

Bay Street Trio, North of Somerset

This would have been a quartet but for the fact that #314 had a car parked out front. That leaves us with (from north to south) 310 Bay, corner of Cooper, of the ochre door and austere grey trim...

312 Bay, with the pillared porch and smart little balcony...

and #316, waxing fancy with the bargeboard and the brickwork.

506 Cooper Street

An exercise in late-Victorian asymmetry, this two-and-a-half storey brick-veneered house sits on the southeast corner of Cooper and Lyon Streets. Decorative brick courses relieve the expanse of side walls and shallow-arched window enclosures on the ground floor lend an inviting feel to an otherwise imposing structure. The increasing exposure of the stone foundation from back to front reveals how Lyon's elevation drops from the ridge of Somerset Street towards the valley of Laurier and Slater.

Apparently, the house was not yet built in 1875. Woodburn lists all of six households on Cooper Street that year. "Concession st." is now Bronson Avenue.

Once again, I'm finding that the City Directories lagged behind Goad's maps in listing new addresses. For example, Polk & Woodburn 1890-91 list only "Vacant lots" running up to the Lyon intersection, even though Goad 1888 (sheet 55) depicts this house already built.

My next directory, Might 1901, lists John McLaughlin at #506. I figure McLaughlin as the builder/ first occupant — he owned the Ottawa Stair Works at 286 Bank.

Might Directory, Ottawa 1901

Shortly after this ad was published, McLauglin moved his business to 989 Somersets Street West, presently the address of "A Fine Thing" antique dealers. See discussion here.

Ottawa Journal, February 25 1914

Mr. Mclaughlin was still residing at 506 Cooper at the time of his death.

The house seems to in a good state of repair. Google Street View indicates that the front porch was refurbished in 2007, and the present occupants have turned the front yard into an inviting garden.