A Tree Grows in Spenceville

...several, in fact

   Clegg St. marks the southern boundary of Spenceville, now a part of Old Ottawa East. Established 1888, the Spenceville subdivision didn't see much development until 1895, and was largely built up by the 1920s. Newspapers mention Clegg at least as far back as 1923 — an Ottawa Journal  article reveals plans for a proposed OER streetcar line extension with a single-track loop along Main, Clegg, Glenora and Herridge.

   83 Clegg's concrete foundation and square footprint are in keeping with the Craftsman/Foursquare idiom that dated from the 1910s into the '30s, though the house is more modestly scaled and lacks the dormered roof half-storey that often marked the style. Originally, #83 would have looked south toward an expanse of pasture, hay-field and market garden, now the Rideau Garden(s) section of Old Ottawa South. That said, I'm really not sure when this house was built.

   A single-storey, rear-gabled extension was added to the back of the house some time after 1991. A 1931 aerial view seems to show a large broad-leaf tree (elm?) at the edge of the road. If so, the magnificent conifer (spruce? fir?) we see part of in the photo was likely planted after that date.