(another) Bate House

46 Cartier, viewed from the SE corner of Cartier & Somerset

   This crapulent weather may be depressing, but gloomy skies totally rock for picture-taking. After ten years of flicking graff, you learn to hate hard shadows. Hard shadows are where things go to die.

   We were rubbing shoulders with a "Bate houses" a post or so back. C.T. Bate built at least one, and probably two (or more) houses in Centretown while his better-remembered brother Sir Henry Newell Bate built several of his own, mostly in Sandy Hill. C.T. seems to have had an eye for all-stone baronial architecture while H.N. favoured the timely asymmetries of the late Victorian "Queen Anne Revival."

   My interest in the Bates goes back to last year when I spent a few days researching the ancestry of my best friend from high school, a descendant of Sir Henry N.  I discovered that his (my friend's) grandmother's house on Wilbrod (cue the ferns) was but one of several attributable to the man.

   Indeed, I tripped over 46 Cartier while looking into another apparent "Bate house" — a murky sprawl one block further south, on the NE corner of Cartier and Maclaren. Searches on "cartier bate" made it clear that #46 is the better documented. Also, it's not hidden behind a screen of Manitoba maple. I'll get to the house at Maclaren eventually. At some point soon I'm going to have to assemble a catalogue of these buildings.

   Robert Smythe composed a historical sketch of 46 Cartier in the summer of 2014. He tells us that the house...

"...was built for Newell Bate in 1901 — likely an early work by W.E. Noffke. It was later the home of New Brunswick Senator Geo. W. Fowler, and between 1924-42 the residence of Supreme Court Justice Thibodeau Rinfret. From 1942-65 it was the D'Youville Convent, then a nursing home, a bed and breakfast [Carmichael Inn and Spa], and most recently the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic." 

   Read his entire article here. Smythe goes on to discuss St. Theresa's Catholic Church (1929, directly across Cartier from #46) and the astonishing "Seybold's Castle" (1890s), the sandstone folly that predated the church.

46 Cartier, south side as viewed from Somerset

   A plaque affixed to the building reads...

“This fine example of the houses constructed for Centrertown’s affluent residents was built for retired merchant Newell Bate. The elaborate chimneys, porches and gables clearly identify the building with the Queen Anne revival style.”

   The Global Affairs Canada website continues to list, 46 Cartier as the home of the "Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic." However, a blog post (2-Dec.-2015) by Jeremy MacLaine titled "The Abandoned Embassy of Syria in Ottawa" indicates that...

"Syrian officials were booted from the embassy in May 2012, when Canada joined the US, UK and several other European states in the decision to expel Syrian embassies and consulates as well as staff."

   MacLaine claims that the house is in a state of disrepair, it's grounds (as of late 2015) strewn with garbage, despite the building's 1994 heritge designation. He also points out that this embarrassment stands a mere block from City Hall. I can't say that I noticed any striking maintenance issues with the building, but then I wasn't looking for them and the grounds are presently covered by snow. It is not clear to me who presently owns the property. A Syrian flag, limp and sodden, still hangs from the flagpole and security seemed non-existent.