Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

I was emailed today with what I thought was a neat question. Derek from St. John’s asked me “What building is in your gravatar? It looks quite old.” It is an old building actually. Well, old by Canadian standards I suppose. It is the Black Swan Guesthouse on Peasholme Green in York, England. It was built in 1417 for William Bowes who became Lord Mayor of York that same year. The Bowes went on to make quite a name for themselves as a family of goldsmiths to the Tudor Kings and Queens and William’s son Martin became Lord Mayor of London. Martin was also an advid heritage conservationist! He intervened in the proposed demolition of several medieval churches in York, including St. Cuthbert’s and the York Rectory, by arguing that these buildings were still in great shape and were links to the City’s historic past and should be saved. He then went on to restore the Church so it could be passed down to us in good condition today. But the real reason I use this building pictured above as my gravatar is its Canadian connections…. (more…)

Photo Credit: City of Toronto Archives Fonds 1244, Item 1

Although the date of April 19, 1904 would suggest it must have been a very pleasant and mild spring day in Toronto, it was actually quite the opposite. The temperature was -4 Celsius and there were flurries in the air that evening in the downtown core. But the winter-like conditions were the least of Toronto’s worries. People were furiously jumping off the streets and onto the sidewalks to avoid the charging horse teams that pulled 7,500 pound fire engines down Wellington Street West at about 8:30 that evening. When the night was over, Toronto had lived through the worst city fire in its history.  (more…)

Photo Credit: TOBuilt

This edition of The Great Canadian Architects series looks at two Toronto based architects who contributed greatly to the development of commercial and banking architecture in the early twentieth century in not just Toronto, but across western Canada. Frank Darling and John A. Pearson would create a solid association that lasted from the early 1890s until 1923. They are best known for their banks of which many were built in the Beaux-Arts and Classical Revival styles. Darling and Pearson observed what was happening in the architectural spaces of Chicago, New York and London and created their own architectural interpretations to reflect the unique Canadian experience of commercial development in the early twentieth century.  (more…)

Photo Credit: Toronto Public Library Archives

In our next instalment in The Great Canadian Architects series, we head back to Toronto where many great architects produced a number of beautiful buildings, many of which are municipal, provincial or national heritage sites. As promised from my story on Casa Loma, this feature will look at the works of Edward James Lennox who built over 70 buildings in the city of Toronto ranging in style from Richardson Romanesque, Neo-Classical, Gothic Revival and Beaux Arts. However, Lennox is most remembered for bringing the Richardson Romanesque style to life and helped develop the growth of Canada’s largest city.  (more…)

Photo Credit: Brock House

Having done my undergrad in architectural history, I am fascinated by architects in general and one of my favourites has always been the work of west coast architect, Samuel Maclure. The more I learn about and practice the art and methods of architectural renderings and landscape design, the more I come to appreciate Maclure’s work. The previous chapter of our Great Canadian Architects series profiled one of British Columbia’s greatest institutional architects of the early twentieth century, F.M. Rattenbury. So, this chapter will look at British Columbia’s greatest architect of private residences of the same period, Samuel Maclure. The two men often competed against each other for commissions and had even worked on a couple of projects together as co-architects. But, Rattenbury and Maclure could not have been more opposite from each other in almost every aspect from training to achievements to their domestic lives. Maclure was the early “Canadian Dream” in many respects: he was BC born, he was a completely self-taught architect, and his marriage was something that could have made a perfect Hollywood love story. And more importantly, Maclure leaves us a multitude of brilliant examples of west coast inspired Tudor Revival and Arts and Crafts homes throughout southwest British Columbia, most of which are now municipally designated heritage buildings.

Note: Just a fair warning to you all, the following story is a bit long and contains LOTS of photos. When it comes to my love and appreciation of Samuel Maclure, it appears that I just can’t shut up about him!!!  (more…)

Photo Credit: Brandon Godfrey

One of British Columbia’s most celebrated institutional architects of all time was also a man who inspired many things away from architecture including high end London plays starring famous actors, a legal case taught to many young lawyers to this day, and a number of novels. His life was filled with almost every kind of sensationalism that could inspire Hollywood filmmakers for years to come: lying about his credentials, illicit sexual affairs, dizzying fame and recognition, alcoholism, the fall from Grace, and, finally, murder. Who was this man? His name was Francis Mawson Rattenbury and he created such architectural wonders in British Columbia as the Empress Hotel and the BC Legislature Building in Victoria; the Court Houses in Vancouver, Nanaimo and Nelson plus numerous other buildings in the province. Before Arthur Erickson, another famed BC architect who began his illustrious career in the 1960s, it was Rattenbury who set the bar of excellence for institutional building design in British Columbia. However, for some, his enduring legacy is undoubtedly his complicated and very tragic personal life.  (more…)

McIntosh Castle in Kingston, Ontario

It’s always nice hearing from readers who have questions about my posts or if they are looking for specific information to something….and even when they are setting me straight on something! I got a great email from Judi in Kingston in response to my Casa Loma story telling me there was a castle I didn’t mention. So in this post, I will tell you a little bit about this castle which is also a perfect stepping off point to launch a new series dedicated to Canadian architects who have built some of this country’s most beautiful public and private buildings. The first architects to be profiled are John Power, and his son Joseph, who built many impressive dwellings in nineteenth and early twentieth century Kingston, Ontario.   (more…)

Photo Credit: Urban Toronto

We have come to the final chapter of our series on Canadian Castles and we end with the youngest of them all, Toronto’s Casa Loma. Since its construction, Casa Loma has been a tourist attraction and prominent landmark in the city of Toronto. It was built as a dream castle for wealthy financier and military man Sir Henry Pellatt and his wife, Lady Mary Pellatt. When construction began on the castle in 1911, Pellatt had amassed a vast fortune by investing in a number of Canadian businesses which included the Toronto Electric Light Company, the Home Bank of Canada and Cobalt Lake Mining. At the height of his financial success, Pellatt was the Chairman of 21 companies and through his own personal investments, he was in control of 25% of the Canadian economy. But before he even moved into his “dream home on the hill”, the seeds for his downfall were being sewn. Unlike his fellow Canadian Castle owners, Pellatt was forced to vacate his property less than a decade after he moved in.  (more…)

Photo Credit: City of Vancouver, British Columbia

Do you live in a large Canadian centre and get the sense of just how much the urban landscape is changing around you? We are all aware of these changes. However, they may not seem as drastic over an extended period of time. It’s really when we see before and after photos separated by several years that we see just how much things have changed.

The City of Vancouver’s Planning Department embarked on a city wide documentation process in 1978 where photos were taken from major landmarks to document the landscape for future planning purposes. Twenty-five years later, in 2003, these places were revisited and re-photographed to show the changes, this time for educational purposes and for future heritage planning considerations. The change in one generation is astonishing. The Planning Department has now uploaded these pictures for everyone to see.

To view these pictures, click the link below. It will take you to the main page “The Changing City”. Each link will take you to the 1978 picture at the top of the page. Click on the 2003 button and watch the panorama shift from left to right showing you the changes over that time period. Don’t forget to check out the new uploads that will  show some changes between 2003 and 2007. Keep in mind that these more recent changes do not take into consideration the development of the False Creek area for the 2010 Olympic Village and venues, nor the condo development along parts of the old Vancouver Indy site.

Please visit The City of Vancouver’s Planning Department Community Services page.

It is a very interesting look into the progression of the urban landscape in Canada and a useful tool for future urban and heritage planning programs.

Photo Credit: Laura Waldie

A recent sojourn down Riverside Drive in Ottawa got me thinking about the pioneer families that contributed to the development of the National Capital Region. Long before Lieutenant-Colonel John By and his Rideau Canal and long before Canada was a united province let alone a confederated nation, there were some hearty families that settled the region, built homes, developed industries, and contributed to what would later become Ottawa. One such family were the Billings of Gloucester. Here, they built a magnificent home where the family would live for five generations. It is Ottawa’s oldest surviving framed home and has been a museum since 1975 celebrating their contributions to the development of Ottawa.  (more…)