It’s not the Athans subdivision, but it’s close. Blossom Park on July 19, 1956. Image: Ted Grant / City of Ottawa Archives, Item CA039619.
Dorothea Athans was ambitious. Really ambitious. And determined. Characterized as “a visionary” with “a force of will that was incredible”, Athans (and her husband Alex, a chemist) arrived in Ottawa from Greece in 1955. That she was one of the few women in Ottawa get involved in property development would have made hers a good story. Her 1980 plan to develop a movie studio near Hawthorne Road, however, is what makes hers a great story. Unfortunately, her ambitions in the Ottawa area were met with little more than disappointment, frustration, and – in at least two cases – being caught on the wrong side of the region’s green belt policies.
90-98 Flora St. Infill has changed over the years. Image: January 2016.
I was walking back home from campus the other day and these brightly-coloured homes (90-98 Flora) caught my eye. As is so often the case, beauty results from conflict and limitation, rather than from whole-cloth design.
I haven’t really formally editorialized much here on Margins, but I thought I’d take that opportunity to do so today.
Most anybody who fell in love with midcentury architecture can probably pinpoint a moment at which they did. Whether it’s what they grew up with or whether it was a particular building that stuck out, we’ve all got it. Being from an area with very little of it constructed1Like many resource towns, construction tends to be done with a certain level of reluctance. The markets could be hotter than hot, but builders tend to take a somewhat longer-term approach., I wasn’t much exposed.
Then it happened. Although I’ve always been interested in buildings, cities, and architecture (the Charles M. Shields Library in South Porcupine can attest), I had never given it too much thought. As I’m apt to do, I was out for a walk during the spring of 2006. Living in Vanier at the time, I was meandering about the part of it north of Montreal Road2Ask me in person, I’ll tell you in person. Living on Deschamps was an adventure that year and made my way down St. Denis, past the recently closed École Cadieux.
I may as well have been walking through this aerial. At least it felt that way. Source: geoOttawa (1965 Aerials)
Then it hit. I walked past 364 St. Denis. Stopped. Lingered. Took pictures. Then continued. 367. A gem! From there, I continued to explore Vanier north of Montreal road over the weeks. The level of care many of these properties receive is stupendous and I very much felt like I was walking through time.
367 St-Denis. Source: Google Maps (Street View).
It was like I was walking through the glistening, new, clean images of midcentury suburban bliss. The ones that I saw in those ubiquitous Popular Mechanics encyclopedias. The ones I saw in the all-too-common depictions of those halcyon days past that infected movies of the 1980s as their directors were feeling those twinges of nostalgia.
It was there that I understood what they were after during that period. No, I am not one of those who actually believes in that ideal. I’m decidedly urban, compact, and foot-based in my preferences and what’s more is that I know that those still waters of the modern suburban idyll ran (and continue to run) deep. The idea is that on a quiet sunny Sunday morning, the light came through and I (at least feel) that my understanding of the ideal came to meet it.
Although it shouldn’t have been, the fact that it was Vanier was the pleasant surprise. With the recent attention paid to midcentury modern neighbourhoods like Briarcliffe, I’d love to see more light shone on others – Vanier’s first and foremost.
Over the next little while, I’d love to start the ball rolling.
Like many resource towns, construction tends to be done with a certain level of reluctance. The markets could be hotter than hot, but builders tend to take a somewhat longer-term approach.
Yesterday, being the beautiful day that it was, I went out for a walk. Oh sure, there were book sales and a fantastic brunch at the Rochester Pub, but there was sunshine and a million things to shoot. To say the least, the case was successfully made for me to spring for a Juicepack. Here are three homes that I took shots of while on my walk, ordered from the Confederation era to today.
Nineteenth Century (c. 1867)
The MacLeod House, at the corner of Stanley and Union in New Edinburgh was constructed around 1867 by Dougal MacLeod, an employee of Thomas McKay.
Although there has been some disagreement as to the actual date this handsome stone home at 92 Stanley (at Union) in New Edinburgh, there is none that it’s a great representation of the earlier stone homes that were constructed in the community. As MacLeod purchased the lot from the McKay Estate in 1867, that date appears to be the accepted one now. Some sources have suggested c. 1850, however. According to the city directories available for the time, Dougal McLeod (also sometimes spelt “McCloud” and in later sources, “MacLeod”) was a miller and one time foreman in McKay’s New Edinburgh mills.
McLeod was a foreman, at least in 1868. Source: Sutherland’s Ottawa City Directory, 1868.Working as a miller. Source: Ottawa City Directory, 1883.
As much as it may have been a solid middle-class existence, working in the mills was not without its own set of risks. McLeod passed away at 53 on April 25, 1883 due to the all-too-common occupational hazard of Stonecutters’ Disease of the Lungs (Silicosis). He was buried at the nearby Beechwood Cemetery.
Beechwood Cemetery register for Dugall McLeod. Notice that Stanley was then known as Rideau. Source: Beechwood Cemetery Internments, 1873-1990 (Ancestry.ca).
Following the death of her husband, Jane McLeod moved into the smaller home behind. The house was then occupied by another McKay foreman named G.A. French.
Jane, Dougal’s widow moved into the home just behind 92 Stanley (Rideau). Source: Ottawa City Directory, 1885.G.A. French moved into 92 Stanley (Rideau). We will see later on in this story, a very similar name. Source: Ottawa City Directory, 1885.Detail from the 1888 (1901 Revision) Goad’s Atlas showing 92 Stanley and 34 Union. Following the death of her husband, Jane McLeod moved into the smaller wood-frame home behind her old home. Click to enlarge.
As New Edinburgh was in the early days of its sort of renaissance as the leafy and generally well-heeled neighbourhood that it is today (with the demolition of most non-residential elements being rapidly completed), the restoration and preservation of the MacLeod House was worthy of celebration. This piece from the March 21, 1970 edition of the Ottawa Journal gives a run down of the subsequent owners/occupants. It appears that it received its plaque in 1992.
A few minor inconsistencies (it was his widow Jane who moved following his death, for example) with the records available today aside, it is a very nice story. Source: Ottawa Journal, March 21, 1970.
Twentieth Century (c. 1935)
Later on during the day, as I was making my way to the book sale at First Avenue Public School, I happened across this beautiful double on First Avenue.
This beautiful double at 386 First Avenue certainly caught my eye. April 2014.
Admittedly, I haven’t been able readily locate a specific date of construction or an architect/builder. The west end of The Glebe (along Bronson) underwent a construction boom beginning in the early-mid-1930s and a number of builders were present. What I was able to locate, however, was its first resident: the ever-popular Dominion Church organist, Allanson G.Y. Brown. Brown was born in York, UK in 1902 and arrived in Canada in 1932. As a young man in England, it was patently clear that he had a knack for ecclesiastical music, replacing his parish organist in York during the First World War.
Arriving on a Third Class ticket, Brown did not yet have a listed address. He was nevertheless, a man on a mission. His voyage to Canada was his own. As we can see, his parents remained in York Source: LAC RG 76-C, Passenger Lists 1865-1935 (at Ancestry.ca).
Brown’s parents could have come to Canada but chose to remain in York at this home at 23 Stanley Street. Source: Google Streetview (Image Date: April 2012).
It appears that Brown was quite a frequent traveller back to to the United Kingdom. A number of records documenting his entries and exits are available at Ancestry.ca. If I were less frugal, I’d have sprung for the global access package, rather than the Canada-only one that I have.
By the time he returned from another trip in 1935, he had an address to list. Source: LAC RG 76-C, Passenger Lists 1865-1935 (at Ancestry.ca).
Shortly after his arrival in 1932, he set down to work as the organist at Dominion United Church.
Brown made is debut that fall. Source: Ottawa Journal, October 15, 1932.
Of course, that was not going to pay all the bills, nor was it going to challenge him musically. The following year, he also began to offer lessons “keen students.”
“Only Keen Students Needed.” Source: Ottawa Journal, September 2, 1933.
After nearly eight years of service, he was elected as the chairman of the Ottawa Centre branch of the Canadian College of Organists.
Meet your new chairman. Source: Ottawa Journal, April 8, 1940.
Brown remained in Ottawa until the mid-1950s when he departed for Leamington, ON. His arrangements would actually go on to be used in services all over the continent.
For example, one was used in San Bernadino, California. Source: San Bernadino County Sun, June 15, 1957.…and in Fitchberg, Massachusetts. Source: Fitchberg Sentinel, December 21, 1963.
He also won a number of prizes and accolades for his work.
$100 from Trinity Presbyterian in Atlanta, Georgia. Source: Ottawa Journal, January 25, 1969.Recognition for 60 years as an organist. Source: Ottawa Journal, May 10, 1975.
Twenty-first Century (2010)
203 North River Road is a real modern beauty. And an award winner to boot. April 2014.
In the spirit of acknowledging that the privacy standards we operate on today are significantly different than they were in the past, I will refrain from the sort of discussion above. I will say that this modern home, constructed about four years ago is a real beauty and I appreciate it greatly every time I happen to walk past. In this case, it was on Saturday morning on my way to the Rockcliffe Park Library’s annual spring book sale. Always a real treat.
Excerpt from the December 2009 issue of Ottawa Construction News.
This is where a little bit of the historical fun comes in. Building Permit No. 907454 was issued in 2009 for the construction of a home at 203 North River Road. The contractor on the file was the award-winning G.M. (Guy) French Construction. If you’ll remember from above, following the death of Dougal McLeod, one G.A. French took up residence in the home at 92 Stanley. Before the Vanier Parkway was completed, North River used to be joined with Charlevoix and Mackay and was the road into New Edinburgh from Hurdman’s.
Ottawahh has just posted a short story about the oldest house in Junction Gore (and perhaps the city), along with a gallery of the older housing in the Alta-Vista area. Aside from the very interesting built history – including the number of extensions and resulting almost maze-like structure – Alta-Vista has come to develop more of a reputation as Ottawa’s first postwar, modern-style suburb. Of course, it was also the stomping grounds of the Billings family, but that’s less the popular (though not unknown) image in my experience.
From the article:
The oldest extant house in Junction Gore (and perhaps the whole city) is 187 Billings Avenue in Alta Vista. It’s been there in some shape or form since around 1823 although it will probably be demolished later this year.
I certainly hope that it may receive a last-minute stay of execution through heritage designation. It’s valuable on the basis of age, its relation to the Billings family, the extensions are a testament to our past relationship to our homes (insofar that they often grew with us), and an example of how that growth was not often regulated in the serious ways that it is now.
