This house was built for John Waites Brookfield, the son of Samuel Manners Brookfield, and Annie Waites, as a wedding gift in 1907.

 

John Brookfield, born in 1879, was assistant manager of the Halifax Graving Dock Co, Ltd.  John, his wife Julia Robertson, and their four sons lived in the home.

 

In 1914, John’s father, Samuel Manners Brookfield, moved into the F.W. Green mansion, diagonally across from his son. Sam Brookfield, since his wife pre-deceased him in 1936, bequeathed his entire estate of more than $248,000 to his son John, who also succeeded him as president of S. M. Brookfield Limited which was renamed the Brookfield Construction Company Limited. Julia passed away in 1936, and John Waites Brookfield passed away in the Montreal General Hospital in 1947.

 

In 1948, Harvey Norman and Amadita Stanbury purchased the Brookfield house, where they raised their six children. Norman Stanbury was a bond dealer and had an investment business called Stanbury & Co. on Hollis Street with branches in Dartmouth, Saint John and Montreal. Norman Stanbury was also on the Board of Directors of Oland & Son, and a military man, holding the rank of Lieutenant in the Militia. Born a twin on Easter Sunday, 1918 in Guildford, England, Amadita was the only daughter of the late Colonel Sidney C. Oland and Herlinda deBedia Oland.

 

In 1963 the Standbury's house was converted into two units, with the owners occupying the upper floors. After Amadita Stanbury died in 2003, the house and adjacent lots were sold to a developer. The developer, in turn, demolished the Brookfield-Stanbury mansion in 2006, and promptly built five tract houses on the former property.

 

The concrete and wooden two-and-one-half-storey dwelling contained six-and-a-half bathrooms. The building consisted of rusticated concrete blocks, reinforced concrete lintels and sills, as well as diamond and stained glass windows. It incorporated elements of the Prairie School and the Craftsman styles pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright. The hallmarks of this post-Victorian style include a basically square, boxy design, two-and-one-half stories high, usually with four large, boxy rooms to a floor, a centre dormer (although this has two), and a large front porch with wide stairs. It usually had a steep-sloped hipped roof creating a large attic or living space as this one had.

 

The structure was fire-stopped with ashes and lime, and had a slate roof with copper flashing, gutters and downspouts. It cost more than $10,000 to build. Unfortunately, the building inspection permit failed to include the name of the architect, and the plans of the house have not survived.

 

George Henry Jost was the architect and superintendent for the Brookfield Company where he designed several public and institutional works for the company in St. John's, Newfoundland. He also taught architectural drawing at Victoria College of Art & Design in Halifax in 1890.  In January 1905, Jost began to practise on his own in Halifax, and had commissions for the Chronicle Block and the Herald & Mail Building. He designed "Emscote" on the Northwest Arm, a house on Lucknow Street, as well as residences on Spring Garden and Coburg Roads. Because of his connection with the Brookfield Company, it is possible he had a hand in its design.