Excerpt from www1.toronto.ca:
Address:
12-14 Draper Street (west side, midway between Front Street West and Wellington Street West).
Construction Date:
1881-1882
Contractor/Builder:
Richard Humphries
Alterations/Additions:
#12 and 14: Window sash and transoms replaced; stone base
altered; patterned shingles removed; keystones removed from dormers, sidelights removed, base and chimney altered on No. 12; dormers removed, porch replaced and brick painted on No. 14.
Original Owner:
Richard Humphries, builder
Original Occupant:
#12: Jabez Heigham, clerk (in 1883);
#14: Saxton T. Sheppard (in 1883).
Building Type: *A: 1½-storey Second Empire Style Cottages (* Draper Street HCD).
Construction:
The semi-detached houses at 12-14 Draper Street were built in 1881-1882. Richard Humphries (or Humphreys) constructed them as part of a series of semi-detached houses on the west side of Draper Street (Nos. 4½-18). The nearly-identical group of houses on the opposite side of Draper (Nos. 3-17 and Nos. 23-29), dating to 1881, were likely designed by Humphries. His estate retained the houses at Nos. 12-14 until 1886 when the properties were taken back by the Peoples’ Loan Company, which held the mortgages.
Design:
The 1½-storey cottages display the mansard roofs identified with the Second Empire style introduced to Toronto in the 1870s. The house at No. 12 retains its pair of round-headed dormers with moulded surrounds. Constructed of brick, the houses rise from a stone base with window openings. The principal facades are designed as mirror images and faced with red brick. Firebreak end walls with chimneys are decorated with brick corbels. Contrasting yellow brick is applied for the window panels, drip moulds with keystones, quoins, belt courses (at the base and below the eaves), and for the brick flanking the roof. Entrances with segmental-headed transoms are centered and slightly elevated in the first storey between bay windows. The house at No. 12 retains its porch. The neighbouring cottages at Nos. 4½-10 and Nos. 16-18 Draper have identical pattern brick detailing. The houses at Nos. 3-17, 21-29 and 4-18 Draper display a common height and Second Empire features. They share their setback, brick cladding and pattern of projecting bay windows with the later houses at Nos. 20-32 Draper, forming a cohesive group of late-19th century buildings.
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