The Parkdale, Elgin at Gladstone

     The Might Directories indicate that the swank-sounding Parkdale apartment building (first listed as #390-392 Elgin) was constructed around 1912 and that its six rental units replaced two single-family houses of like numbering. Goad 1912 sheet 67 shows this walk-up's brick-veneer-over-wood structure and insists that, because of the indentation created by its Mansard-style roof-line, the Parkdale is a two-and-a-half storey building and not a three.
     Listings as late as 1923 assure us that the Parkdale was not built to accommodate a storefront, but at some point in time that's obviously what happened. The ground floor was gutted, the side windows bricked in, and a projection of what looks to me like 3.5 metres was tacked on to the front of the building. It's been a Mac's for as long as I can remember, not that I've been keeping track. A staircase on the south side of the building permits access to the remaining apartments.
     The Parkdale exudes the charm that comes with peeling paint and a graffiti hit that has persisted unbuffed for at least a year now if not two. The current addresses are 388 Elgin for the store and 390 for the apartments.

Sunny morning, Google Street View — Elgin looking south (L), Gladstone looking west (R)

     This Street View capture shows how far the storefront extends past the original facade. Note the stone foundation and the four bricked-in side windows. The rebuilt balconies take advantage of the storefront roof and may be deeper than the originals.

Early Infill: 404 Elgin, the Holbrook

     According to Kalman & Roaf, (Exploring Ottawa, 1983) the Holbrook dates to 1915 and was designed by the prolific local architect Warner Edgar Noffke. In this case, his clients were Charles and James Holbrook, contractors — the building, one assumes, was conceived as an income property.
     The Might Directories reveal the Holbrook to be an early 20th century example of developer-driven infill. The 1915 directory, reflecting conditions of the previous twelve months, lists 404 and 406 as two detached dwellings, both vacant pending their demolition (and both, it appears, original to the site).  They were very much in the style and size of the adjacent #408, still standing (see Chris Ryan.)
     The following year Might would list the Holbrook at the same address, uniting the two lots and boasting 18 units, all occupied. Dividing this number of apartments by the two original households yields a densification factor of 9x for the property.

Watch This Space

Click the pic to enlarge — I hate it when you squint.

     To the left of this painterly scene, the distinctive 278 Crichton has found a new admirer, a little red rent-a-potty. Of #278, Katharine Fletcher (Capital Walks) writes...

[It is] a still beautiful 1908 Rogue Victorian red brick home that is a study in competing shapes and forms...  the squared-off central doorway and the balcony alcove [not visible in this shot] are later additions built when the single family home was turned into the Philip Apartments by the Betcherman family in the 1930s.

     In the foreground sits a vacant lot formerly occupied by the Brunswick Apartments at 280 and a modest older house at 282. This 2010 proposal (pdf) for "New Three Storey Stacked Townhouses (32 Units)" gives us a rough idea of what to expect next.

7-9-11 Electric Street

     Timberville.ca, who claim responsibility for this row at the corner of New Edinburgh's Crichton and Electric Streets, describe themselves as offering...

[A]rchitecturally designed, high-quality homes evolved from the classic modernist traditions. Our stunning designs and meticulous finishings ensure consistently spectacular results! Specializing in project management for custom builds and renovations, we take the building experience to the next level. Our current & past projects showcase our beautiful designs in some of Ottawa's finest communities.

     While I'm sure some of the neighbors grumbled when they saw this one going up, they could have been stuck with much worse. Height and setback are well-managed, the exterior reminds us of Sussex Avenue's historic limestone homes (or does a decent job trying) and the graceful upthrust of the columns add the right amount of "classic" to an otherwise modernist design.
     Timberville's website doesn't have much to say about 7-9-11, satisfied to offer a little slideshow and that's about it. This building went up some time after 2011 and demonstrates how modern architecture can (and sometimes does) make effective use of a small lot.
     Younger Ottawans may not realize that as late as the 1970s, parts of the south end of New Edinburgh, especially in the block bounded by Crichton, Electric, MacKay and Beechwood looked a lot like the rougher parts of Lower Town back in the day. If this is progress, I have no great objection.
     This lot was previously the site of 296 Crichton, an old (probably original to the site) flat roofed, red-brick house. A side lawn faced onto Electric. Goad's 1912 reprint shows a two-storey house, built of wood with brick veneer. Some time prior to its demolition, it acquired a boxy-looking front-porch/sun-room addition.
     Note that Crichton appears as "Creighton" in some older documents.

the Elgin Apartments, #370

     The Elgin Apartments date to the first decade of the 20th century, though pinning down an exact year is a bit tricky. They don't appear in the 1901 Might Directory, but they are listed in the 1909 — without any mention of tenants. This odd state of affairs persists in the 1912 edition. Seven tenants are listed in 1913 while 1914 indicates eight units. This would make two apartments running front to back on each of the above-ground floors.
     The building appears here on Goad's May 1912 reprint, with Elgin Street on the right margin of the page...

     The Elgin Apartments building is at the upper right-hand corner of the plan. Notice the building immediately to its south, numbered 372-376. It predates the Elgin and appears on Goad's 1888 plan (sheet 54), simply labeled 376. Here it's shown as a double storefront, featuring a grocers and a barber shop, with an apartment(s?) upstairs. As best I can tell, this is the same building (today numbered 372) that houses the Elgin Street Diner.
     A curiosity depicted here is the row of six houses that fill out the rest of the block. The two south-most units were unceremoniously lopped off when Gladstone was widened in the early 1960s. The remaining four units were converted to shops and offices — all destroyed by fire on the night of Friday, February 16 1979. As Mike Strobel reported for the Ottawa Journal...

     The "small apartment making up the rest of the block" would have been the Elgin Apartments. #370 had its own brush with fire just two years previous — from an Ottawa Journal photo caption dated January 17 1977...

 "A fireman is framed in the charred window of one of the apartments on the top floor of the nine-unit building at 370 Elgin Street. Fire gutted that floor of the Elgin Apartments at about 10:30 a.m. leaving 40 people without shelter. There were no injuries but damage to the four-storey brick structure was estimated at $30,000."

     The basement of the Elgin Apartments is, of course, home to the most excellent Manx Pub,  http://manxpub.com/ — proudly "TV free since '93."

The Lochiel Houses

28 Lochiel, now 244 Frank

 
      Lochiel Street ran west of Elgin for all of one block when the area was first being developed in the late 19th Century — it would eventually become part of Frank Street. Houses on the north side of Lochiel were razed to make way for Jack Purcell Park, more recently a dog park.
     On the south side of Frank, two small Victorian-era houses sit huddled together. Both are at least 130 years old, if the date on the map below is to be trusted. The 1885 city directory lists three households* on Lochiel, but the street numbers are not given.
     #244  (formerly 28 Lochiel) is made of brick, parts of which are veneered with faux masonry, now painted a silvery-grey. Goad calls this a 1½-storey, but I'd give it a two. The mansard-styling on the second storey facade creates the appearance of a tiny, side-gabled house, but the building is actually flat-roofed and at least twice as deep as it's wide.

Goad, January 1888, sheet 54 — Elgin runs along the right margin

 
     Goad shows #s 28 (pink for brick) and 32 (yellow for wood) on the south side of Lochiel. The vacant lot at the corner of Elgin would soon be occupied by The Elgin Apartments (#370 Elgin), eventually, home to the Manx Pub. Both sides of #28 abut the property line, which explains why the current 244 Frank appears glued to the walk-up apartment block on its east flank.

32 Lochiel, now 248 Frank

 
     Built of wood and standing at an uncontested 1½-storeys, 248 Frank is the more modest of the pair. This house is set further back than it's neighbour, allowing it to hide behind a profusion of barely-tamed shrubs. The wooden trim is delightful notwithstanding the loss of a finial, and the vertical siding is plastic — I went up and gave it a poke just to be sure.

*Captain Joseph Reed; H.R. McDonald (caretaker, Model school); Luke Williams (asst. engineer, Normal School)

Shots of Selkirk

     I left home when I was eighteen, or rather my parents moved to Montreal and asked me if I was coming with them and I said no. I shared, roomed and couch-surfed for two years before renting my own first apartment, a ground-floor bachelor at 50 Selkirk in Vanier. The Selkirk Apartments is a low-rise (five floors, elevator) lurking behind the Eastview Shopping Centre. Back then, rent was $135 all in. That's how long ago.

     I've adapted the map at the top of the page from Belden's 1879 Atlas of Carleton County. It shows Janeville, one of the three communities that would be combined to form Eastview (1908), eventually Vanier (1963), now a part of Ottawa (2001).

     Once upon a time, Selkirk Street was called "John" while Montgomery, the roadway that crosses it at an angle was "Victoria." You can see all of this if you click on the map to enlarge it. If you do, you'll see how John-now-Selkirk runs east from Russell Road (now River Road) to a set of railway tracks labeled "St. Lawrence Ottawa Railroad" — now the Vanier Parkway, a railway no longer.

     I never paid much attention to the east end of Selkirk when I lived there, but I cycled out this past weekend and took a few shots. Some funky little houses there, a couple of which look almost 19th Century.

      103 Selkirk — note the faux masonry treatment. The lintel on the ground-floor window looks like it could be real, likewise the stucco — brick underneath?

     97 Selkirk — and no, it's not you, it's the front porch.

    95 Selkirk — again with the curiously small windows. I've noticed a lot of these latticed enclosures under front porches up in the Gatineaus — a French-Canadian thing? A planting of day-lilies ("hémérocalle") would complete the effect.

     91 Selkirk — more lattice-work, more stucco, and an (added on?) bay window that effectively increases over-all living space while intimidating passing battleships.

     107 Selkirk — balance, simplicity, and finials.

     345 Montgomery, just around the corner from Selkirk —rustic charm hangs on for dear life while Bona's 10-storey office building at 140 Jeanne Mance (2014, SE corner of the Parkway) looms modern in the distance.

Bargeboard and Brickwork

   I honestly don't remember taking this picture, let alone when or where. A lovely little house all the same, and lovingly maintained.

306 Metcalfe Street

   "Birkett Castle" was built in the late 19th Century for local merchant and politician Thomas Birkett. The National Trust for Canada explains...

Birkett Castle was the headquarters of the National Trust for Canada from 1981 until 1994. Thomas Birkett, who was an alderman, Mayor of Ottawa, and MP at the turn of the 20th Century, built Birkett Castle in 1896. It is a rare example of Baronial Gothic architecture with towers and a crenellated roofline. Inside it is an attractive home with wood panelling, ornaments, and stained glass windows. Briefly in the 1920s, the building served as the Japanese Embassy and then became the headquarters of the Canadian Boy Scouts Association. From 1961 until 1994, it was occupied by a series of organizations. In 1994, the Government of Hungary bought the building from the National Trust and it has since served as the Embassy of the Republic of Hungary and Residence of the Ambassador.

   Over the decades, the Leda clay so prevalent in this part of Centretown allowed the Castle's foundation to slump unevenly. Cracks developed in the walls of the sun-room facing onto Waverley. This damage was worsened and extended by the earthquake of June 2010. Recent  repairs to the building have entailed the rebuilding of the south-facing foundation using the original masonry.

   A City of Ottawa document describing the house and its repairs can be viewed here. The pdf includes historical discussions as well as photographs of structural damage. The firm of CSV Architects was contracted to provide some beautiful elevation drawings of the Castle.

historical view (n.d.) via the City of Ottawa

   Of the interior, Katharine Fletcher writes (Capital Walks second edition, 2004 Fitzhenry & Whiteside)...

[It] still retains much of its Victorian detailing. Reminiscent of the chinoiserie popular in Victorian times is the vestibule’s pressed-tin panelling figured with oriental designs of birds, dragons, and dolphins. The foyer boasts richly carved wooden paneling. A generous staircase sweeps into the hallway, and a bronze figurine of a fairy, Eau, graces the newel post

   According to Urbsite, "A baronial fantasy piece, 'Birkett's Castle' was designed by architect William Hodgson." You can read about Mr. Hodgson here.

   A modern annex extends westward from the back of the house. While its brick matches the colour of the original structure, no attempt was made to emulate its style, and the annex is not included in the heritage designation.

149-151 Patterson Avenue

    I know, this house looks totally bleak in the rain — but wait until the sun comes out and that hydrangea starts rocking!

   I find no newspaper mentions of Patterson Avenue prior to 1900. Ads from that year announce the sales of "new brick" houses, featuring hot and cold running water! This way to the coal chute boys...

   The City Directories tell us that as of 1901, 149 Patterson was vacant — awaiting its first occupant? Between 1904 and 1923 (possibly both earlier and later), it was the home of George W. Dawson, a purchasing agent for the Department of Public Works.

   Listings up to 1923 treat #149 as a single address. The upstairs would have been converted to a separate apartment some time after that date. Someone did a nice, clean job on the paired front entrances.

   Assuming* a construction date circa 1900, this design respects the basic Victorian layout while manfully eschewing the gracile fripperies of the Queen Anne revival. Solid Edwardian massing is presaged here.

* Jeopardy revived the old chestnut just last night, with Alex Trebek intoning "To assume is to make an ass of 'u' and me." Let's say 1900-1901 is my best guess and leave it at that.