Description of Historic Place

90 Front Street is located on the northeast corner of Front Street and Cobourg Street in the City of Stratford. The one-and-a-half storey buff brick residence was constructed in 1897.

The property was designated by the City of Stratford in 1988 for its heritage value under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act (By-law 189-88).

Heritage Value

90 Front Street is associated with Herbert Denroche, a senior officer in the Perth Regiment who lived in the residence during the early 1930s. Denroche enlisted in 1914 and was wounded at the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Although severely handicapped by his injuries he re-enlisted in the Perth Regiment in 1922 as an officer. He progressed through the ranks, eventually being promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and appointed as the Regiment's Commander although his untimely death prevented him from taking up this appointment. His military funeral in 1933 is said to have been one of the largest and most impressive in Stratford's history.

90 Front Street, constructed in 1897, is an excellent example of the Queen Anne style of architecture in Stratford. Characteristic of this style are the varied and multiple rooflines, complexity and variety of windows and door openings, the prominent brick chimney and the use of decorative fishscale shingles on the front pediment.

The residence was likely constructed from American copybook plans which were available to contractors at that time. Copybooks provided instructions to builders about all aspects of the dimensions of the house and the floor plans of it. Contractors or builders could then replicate the style and at the same time make slight changes to the floor plan so that all of the buildings would not be exactly the same. The plans could also be modified to be more affordable. 90 Front Street, for example, is not a full two storeys and lacks the turret or medieval tower that is usually found on Queen Anne residences.

Source: City of Stratford, By-law 189-88.

Character-Defining Elements

Character defining elements that contribute to the heritage value of the 90 Front Street include the:
- one-and-a-half storey buff brick exterior
- brick chimney
- multiple rooflines and gables
- complexity and variety of windows and openings
- decorative fishscale shingles
- peaked gable
- two original porches