Quantcast
Channel: Mid-Century Modern (and beyond) Housing Ottawa
Viewing all 176 articles
Browse latest View live
↧

Charmed by Chalmers

January 24, 2016, 10:21 am
$
0
0
There is one mid-century modern builder in Ottawa that has always intrigued me, yet I do not know much about the company. The builder is Chalmers and they constructed a number of striking and unusual houses in Ottawa during the 1950s to 1970s. I do not have any floor plans or marketing materials by the builder, but I wanted to share a bit of what I know about Chalmers.

When I was a Realtor, I had a chance to visit a couple Chalmers-built houses. Inside, the designs usually centre on a very large living room, often with a vaulted exposed-beam ceiling. Large windows and prominent fireplaces are also characteristics of the designs. Even semi-detached designs built by Chalmers have striking interiors with these features. 

Outside, Chalmers-built houses often have various textures, especially wood, and sometimes have dramatic roof-lines. In some cases the exterior may have a rustic look, perhaps inspired by chalets in the European Alps. (Exterior images courtesy of Google Maps)



Typically, the houses can be found scattered throughout the Alta Vista and Faircrest Heights neighbourhoods. In particular, there are clusters in the area of Summit Avenue and Mountbatten Avenue, Crestview Road and Ronald Avenue, Hillary Avenue and Palen Avenue, and on Chattaway Avenue. There are also a handful in Urbandale (near Elmvale Acres), Arlington Woods, Glabar Park and on Shanegal Crescent in Windsor Park Village (Hunt Club). There is a pocket of large, sprawling Chalmers homes located next to the Billing’s Estate. This neat little area of houses also has a street named “Chalmers” and I have heard that the builder constructed a house in the neighbourhood for himself.

In Faircrest Heights the Chalmers semi-detached houses are quite wide and designed to look like one large sprawling house, instead of two units. In some cases a two-car garage is located to one side, yet one half is for each unit - meaning the homeowner of one unit has to walk over to the front yard of the other unit to get to their garage.
Here are a few examples of Chalmers houses across the city:











The real estate team I work for has a Chalmers-built house for sale on Chalmers Road. The house has an extremely large living room at 26 by 18-feet! The kitchen and family room space has a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams and skylights. Huge windows and 3 fireplaces make this a perfect example of a Chalmers design. We have a 3D virtual walk through tour of the house on the website, so check it out at this link (scroll down to find the 3D tour): 2115 Chalmers Road

If you are looking for a house to purchase and you think this is the house for you, please contact me at: Listings@JohnKingTeam.com 
↧
Search

Factory-built houses in Sheffield Glen and Queenswood Heights

February 6, 2016, 9:53 am
$
0
0
At work, we just listed a condo for sale in the Sheffield Glen neighbourhood (304-2650 Southvale) - and driving through the area I realized that I have never done a post on the factory-built houses from the early 1970s in Ottawa.

I am aware of two neighbourhoods built with these homes in Ottawa, but there may be more: Sheffield Glen (the area around Southvale Crescent) and Queenswood Heights in Orleans (there is a row of these houses along Tenth Line between Tomkins and Amiens, and they were built in the area behind).

I do not have much information on these factory-built houses (or even where the factory was) other than what is described in the marketing ephemera below. 

Both G.N.C. homes and Alcan Universal Homes (yep, Alcan used to build houses) had some identical plans that they built in Ottawa. Perhaps they were built in the same factory - just under different banners? Alcan also built in Georgetown, Ontario. If you know of anywhere else these homes were built in Ottawa or elsewhere in the country, let me know!


Notice how on most of the bungalow plans there is a thicker wall running down the centre of the house. They were most-likely built with a front and a back half - to be trucked to the site - and this mid-point would be where the two halves were joined on site.
The Capri design below appears the most obvious as a factory-built house. The bedroom section is quite narrow and looks as though it would easily fit on a truck to be transported to the site.
















↧
↧

The Manor Houses of Hunt Club Woods

February 15, 2016, 4:02 pm
$
0
0
A few years ago I shared one of these designs on a blog post of favourite plans in south Ottawa. At first blush the houses do not seem to fit in with the mid-century modern and 1970s aesthetic that this blog celebrates. Yet, upon further inspection, they represent a turning point in housing design in Ottawa between the open-concept spaces of the modern era, and the return to more traditional (and more formal) layouts that had became more common in the 1980s. The houses are almost like on last "hurrah" before tastes changed in housing design.
 On the outside the houses look like on large manor houses, but each building is made up of three attached units, each with an attached garage and separate entrance.
 All of the plans have formal separate dining rooms, but the excitement in space unfolds upon entering the living rooms, with two-storey spaces and a second floor loft that overlooks the room below. Often the fireplace, and sometimes the staircase, becomes an integral part of the architectural volume of these spaces. 

Although architecturally-unique, it appears that some of the houses were not built with these open to above spaces and loft, and instead a bedroom is located above the living room. Perhaps home buyers were given a choice to have an additional bedroom instead of a loft. Interestingly, the end unit plan with the largest garage (a 2 car garage) is actually a 1 bedroom house, plus loft.

 There are 3 basic plans, but with slight variations in room sizes and window placement depending on the facade of the house. Likewise, entrances to the garages and the driveway placement varied as per the siting within the neighbourhood. In each manor the middle unit has a visible front door on the front of the house, while the other units doors are tucked around the side, keeping up appearances that the house is one large dwelling and not 3 units. Likewise, in most cases, only one set of garage doors is visible from the front of the house, with the others tucked around the side.













 In the Beaverbrook area of Kanata, one builder essentially copied Campeau's manor house designs in the mid-1980s, but instead of two-story living rooms with lofts above, the houses have 2 or 3 bedrooms on the second floor. The designs have other slight variations, but are essentially the same as their predecessors. 

To better demonstrate the similarities, here are larger versions of the two plans below - the original above:
↧

Campeau's Renaissance Series

February 28, 2016, 1:07 pm
$
0
0
During the 1970s Campeau released a series of houses called the "Renaissance Series" that are an affordable collection of detached houses. The designs are straightforward with rectangular footprints and no "frills" in terms of the exterior facades to help reduce the costs. The designs are also modest in size, most with only 1 bathroom. 

Even today, these houses are still a relatively affordable option for detached houses not far from downtown. In Carson Grove the houses today typically sell for between $350,00-$400,000, although some highly renovated houses with additions sell for up to $470,000. In the small Timbermill neighbourhood (Sawmill Creek), few houses come up for sale, but when they do, they typically sell for under $400,000. 

Below are two brochures for the series of designs, followed by a handful of plans from Carson Grove:

This version of the Castille design has 3 bedrooms on the main level, but no dining room. You will notice that on other versions of the plan shown below, the bedroom behind the kitchen becomes a dining room.
This version of the Salisbury varies from the earlier design as the 4th bedroom is now a dining room.
Phase V of Carson Grove has a few larger designs, including the Hanover front-split and the Crestwood 2-storey from the "Executive Series".
The Secord design was also built in this phase of Carson Grove.

Timbermill is a small pocket of Renaissance Series houses built off of Albion Road, south of Hunt Club Road. There are a few semi-detached houses in this pocket, but unfortunately, I do not have the plans for them.

↧

Who is Costain?

March 21, 2016, 5:14 pm
$
0
0


Who is Costain?

Almost 50 years ago Ottawans were asked the same question in a series of newspaper ads.

Intrigued? Stay tuned to my blog for an upcoming post on a company that transformed the landscape east of Ottawa.
↧
↧

Costain in Ottawa - Part One: Blackburn Hamlet (Detached Homes)

April 10, 2016, 12:02 pm
$
0
0
Some of my long-time readers may remember that I did a series of posts on Costain a few years ago. For some reason, a few of my older posts have vanished from my blog - for reasons unknown to me. So, I have re-created this post on the builder Costain due to interest from some of my readers. On the positive side, I have been able to get my hot little paws on some new floor plans and marketing material, so there is more material in this post compared to the original (now lost) post!

In the mid-1960s the builder Costain (originally from England, but with an impressive global portfolio) came to Ottawa to develop a new hamlet in the eastern greenbelt called Blackburn Hamlet. 















Today Blackburn Hamlet is very lush with mature trees and extensive parkland, surrounded by the NCC Greenbelt. The west side of Blackburn Hamlet has 3 neighbourhoods separated by parkland, Westpark, Southpark and Centrepark. The Northpark and Southpark neighbourhoods are located to the east, and I believe that this area was developed after the west side. South of Innes Road is another area that is predominantly townhouses, with detached houses on the east side.




Costain's portfolio of house designs in Blackburn Hamlet grew over the years (they built in the area well in to the 1970s), some of which were also built in their Orleans development. This post will focus on detached houses built in Blackburn Hamlet in particular, but some of the designs were built in Orleans. The older designs are presented first, with later additions below - you will notice a change in the design of the floor plan brochures. I was recently able to get a hold of some Costain plans from Erin Mills in Mississauga from the 1970s and many of the designs are similar to those built in Ottawa during the same time. 

I have collected these plans over a number of years and some are of better quality than others. I may also be missing a handful of plans, so if any of my readers have copies of better quality plans or missing plans, I would love to share them - so please let me know! 

In terms of house prices, Costain-built detached houses in Blackburn hamlet average around $460,000 (based on sales between April 2015-April 2016). Some smaller designs have sold in the $300,000 range and some larger and fully renovated designs selling in the high $500,000s, with premiums being paid for those backing on to the greenbelt.











































Stay tuned for more posts on Costain, including their townhouse/carriage home designs and their developments in Orleans.




↧

Idea File: California Dreaming in Ottawa

July 3, 2016, 5:50 pm
$
0
0
In addition to my collection of Ottawa and Toronto-area floor plans and housing ephemera, I also have boxes upon boxes of American plans and articles - with a particular interest in Californian housing. 

Within this collection I have some favourite designs that I keep revisiting for inspiration, as I also design floor plans as a hobby (none have been built). Among my most cherished "inspiration" plans are those designed by the mid-century architect partners Robert E. Jones and Edwin K. Hom. Recently I discovered that some Ottawa houses may have been inspired by some townhouse designs by these architects. Here is what I have found:  

A while ago I published a post on the Assaly Villas built in the 1960s and 1970s in Westcliffe Estates (Bell's Corners) and Trend Village: Assaly Villas. In these neighbourhoods a series of exterior styles for the houses were offered, including the "Spanish Valencia", shown below:   
Many of the houses built with this exterior facade have been altered over the years, but the archway and balconies over the garage with curved details still remain in most cases.

Below is an advertisement from Time Magazine in 1965 showing houses built in San Juan Capistrano, California, designed by Robert E. Jones. Notice how the exteriors are strikingly similar.  
The article below from House & Home Magazine in 1965 also shows the same houses - including the floor plans.
In terms of the layouts, the main floors of the two-story designs are very similar to those built in Ottawa, yet there are differences on the second levels. Of interest is the fact that both the California project and the Ottawa versions have 2-bedroom bungalow units (although the plans are not exact matches). Larger versions of the California designs are below:
Here are the Ottawa plans:


If there was any doubt that the designer of the Ottawa houses was influenced by American design, the Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) elevation options are a sure giveaway.
As mentioned earlier, Robert E. Jones and Edwin K. Hom are some of my favourite tract-house architects, yet there is very little written about Jones and Hom. What I do know is that they were based out of La Jolla, California, and designed a handful of very unique projects, some of which were unbuilt. 

In the interest of sharing their inspirational designs, I will veer away from Ottawa for a moment and present a collection of Jones and Hom plans from California:

This design for Huntington Harbor was not built for some reason, and the land was developed with detached houses instead. Yet, the designs are intriguing and I love the architecture of the houses with walls of glass and steep roof lines. I wonder what happened to the scale model they built? 



The designs for the unbuilt Huntington Harbor project above appear to have been altered for the Tennis Estates complex built south of the original site. This neighbourhood was actually built with some interesting waterfront townhouse designs. 



House and Home, September 1974
I am a very big proponent of the zero lot line concept where houses are pushed up to one side of the lot, creating a larger side yard, instead of two narrow and often unusable side yards. This enhanced usability of a lot can be further expanded with the "patio house" concept by enclosing the whole yard - including the front yard - with a wall. Although not invented by Jones and Hom, they embraced the concept in Westlake Village. In some cases an enclosed yard would allow for a pool to be located at the front of a house.  







House and Home, September 1967
Also in Westlake Village, this proposed design for waterfront houses was not actually built. I love the roof lines of the houses and the way they interact with each other. Hiding cars in an covered parkade is also an unusual idea. 

The Shores development built in Monarch Beach has a collection of zero lot line houses including one that is pushed right up to the back of the lot. A trademark of Jones and Hom's designs are their use of steep or unusual roof lines to create a sense of weight and paired with large expanses of glass.



House and Home, May 1972
Another patio home project in Huntington Beach:

In Sunnyvale, Jones and Hom designed a series of award-winning houses called Bahl Patio Homes:

House and Home, October 1974



House and Home, August 1969
The Bahl Cluster Homes are fourplexes designed in a pinwheel layout:





House and Home, September 1972
Hopefully these designs from California will help fuel ideas and inspiration for any home renovation/design projects here in Ottawa!

↧

Mid Century Summer Reading list 2016

August 1, 2016, 1:09 pm
$
0
0
Happy Summer!

In an old post I compiled a list of mid-century-era books perfect for summer reading (Summer Reading), but this year I stumbled upon an article on Curbed.com with some other books of interest. The article (a great read in itself) has a rather negative view of mid-century suburbs, but it has a nifty list of works that I have either already read, or want to get my hot little hands on. Here is a link to the article: Welcome to Disturbia. 

Used bookstores...here I come!

I wish all of my blog readers a great summer!

~Saul
↧
Search

Idea File - The Expandable Condo

August 27, 2016, 10:31 am
$
0
0
In the interest of sharing unique design ideas I will veer outside of the mid-century modern and 1970s era and share some unique plans and ideas.

Over the years that I have worked in the various facets of the real estate industry I have been inside many condominium apartment units in Ottawa. I am always surprised and delighted to see innovative designs that then become inspiration for the "hobby" floor plans that I design as a pastime. One design aspect about condo apartments I like playing with is the idea about space that can be expanded. This is something that is typically impossible with a condo apartment unless an adjacent unit is bought. I am not the only one to have thought of this - here are some examples/ideas in Ottawa. 

The Broker I work for recently listed Alanis Morissette's spectacular suite in the Sussex condominium building. Her (now sold) suite was re-imagined from the original plans, but the original design for the building is quite unique. Each floor has 4 standard designs, all corner suites. Yet, each floor has 8 distinct modules with their own separate legal identity. The typical suite is 2 units, but there is the potential to be expanded in to one of the adjacent units - resulting in 3 condos per floor (two 3 module suites and one 2 module suite). I am not sure if anyone actually did expand their suite when the building was built, but the idea is noteworthy!  






Additionally, some condo buildings allow homeowners to enclose a balcony for extra interior space, such as at 160 George Street. My Broker currently has a listing for sale in this building with the balcony still open, but I have been inside some of the units with enclosed balconies that have been opened up to the main living space quite successfully.


The Classics at Riviera condo also allows enclosed balconies, but it appears that they must be fully glass so as not to detract from the overall facade of the building. On the flip-side, some units in this complex were built with an enclosed solarium (sometimes called a "sun den") that homeowners have opted to completely open up to the main living space.  


Another example at 373 Laurier Avenue East with enclosed balconies. Many condominium corporations do not allow the enclosing of balconies as it changes the look of the building facade.


One building that has always intrigued is the Parkway Terrace condominium at 77 Richmond Road. From the outside the building presents a unique facade with large expanses of glass and deep-set balconies.





The overall layout of the building is very unique with all of the units (8 per floor) loaded on the back of the building, overlooking the Ottawa River and parkway. At the front of the building most units (except the end units and ground floor units) have a second balcony and a solarium space (called a gazebo on the plans). These are separate from the main unit as the building hallway runs between. This unique, yet separate, expansion space could have numerous options. From what I have seen with real estate listings in this building most owners use this space as a solarium, but I could envision it used as a home office just across the hall from your unit.  









 


↧
↧

Country Place

September 18, 2016, 3:56 pm
$
0
0
A while ago a reader asked about a plan in the Country Place neighbourhood. I do not know too much about the neighbourhood, but I do have some collections of plans for houses built in the area by the builders Simpson and Sherbrooke. I believe that the Simpson homes were built first, followed by later phases by Sherbrooke. The lot sizes are large, so most of the designs are centre-hall plans. 

If any of my readers know more about the area please do share in the comments section below.

Here are all of the plans that I have for the area, but it appears that others were built as well. Some of the Simpson plans were also built in the Playfair Park area of the city.












 


 





















 


 


















 




 




↧

The great Costain/Coscan archive sharing project!

September 24, 2016, 11:10 am
$
0
0
One of my readers pointed out that that I have not published Part 2 of my Costain in Blackburn Hamlet post. Looking through my Costain/Coscan plans to work on that post, I decided to embark on an ambitious (and related) project. 

Between 1966 and 1999 Costain (later renamed Coscan) built thousands of houses in Ottawa - in Blackburn Hamlet, Orleans, Kanata, Hunt Club and near Crystal Beach. I have over 260 floor plans that I will be scanning and sharing on this blog in the coming months. It will take me some time, but I will share them in the chronological order that the houses were built. So stay tuned...let the scanning begin!

The great pile of Costain/Coscan plans!
  
↧

Costain in Ottawa Part Two: Blackburn Hamlet (and Orleans) Carriage Homes and Townhouses

October 10, 2016, 2:37 pm
$
0
0
In Part One I shared Costain's detached plans in Blackburn Hamlet (some of which were also built in Orleans): Costain in Ottawa - Part One: Blackburn Hamlet (Detached Homes). This second installment in the series focuses on the Carriage Homes and Townhomes built by Costain.

The Carriage homes in Blackburn Hamlet were for the most part built south of Innes Road, with a small pocket in the northwest corner of the area. Similar carriage home designs were also built in Convent Glen in Orleans. These designs are usually only attached by the garage, although some units have bedrooms over the garage and thus are attached to the adjacent house on the upper level. A variety of distinct facade designs makes each unit more individual on the streetscape.





The Harwood townhouses are located south of Innes Road at Orient Park Drive. There are a few other condo townhouse complexes built by Costain South of Innes, but these are the only plans I have. Other builders also constructed townhouses in this part of Blackburn Hamlet.

















Below are the plans for the Innes Park rental complex built by Costain at Innes Road and Eastpark Drive, including townhouses, flats and 2-level apartments.










Stay tuned for more Costain plans!



↧

The Mystery of the Lincoln Heights Moderns

October 22, 2016, 10:41 am
$
0
0
Recently, a reader brought my attention to a handful of mid-century modern houses on the east end of Regina Street in Lincoln Heights that resemble the Eichler-built houses in California, particularly in regards to the roof lines and exposed beams. Unfortunately, I have not been able to dig up any information on these houses - other than that they were built around 1960 - so maybe one of my readers can help?





The one aspect that makes these houses stand out compared to the Eichler-built houses is that the Ottawa versions have large windows overlooking the street. As much as I absolutely adore the Eichler designs (some were designed by my favourite architect A. Quincy Jones), they are very inward looking, often focusing on a central courtyard. The privacy this provides is noteworthy, but so too is the fact that there are few "eyes upon the street" (as per Jane Jacobs). I for one know that I would not be happy in a house without large windows overlooking the street from my living spaces. It makes me feel connected to the community and makes for a safer neighbourhood.

Most of the Eichler houses were built in Northern California, yet below are some of the Eichler designs built in Fairhills, Orange, California. Notice how the front facades are mostly blank: 




Back to Lincoln Heights in Ottawa, I do have some floor plans for houses built in this area. I remember reading an article years ago (perhaps in an old newspaper that I cannot seem to track down) about how the builder Assaly planned to built a large neighbourhood of luxury homes next to the Western Parkway. Assaly did build a number of large detached houses in the early 1970s in the area and in the 1980s MacDonald Homes constructed some more. The remainder of the houses in Lincoln Heights were custom-built in the 1980s and 1990s. There are still a few vacant lots in the area yet to be built on. 

Below are the plans by Assaly. The Quality is not great, but these are scans of the photocopied versions I have.


I do not have the plans for the semi-detached houses, but I suspect that they are the ones on the south side of Regina Street.




Plans by MacDonald Homes:
↧
↧

Costain in Convent Glen (and Hazeldean Ridge)

November 16, 2016, 10:17 am
$
0
0
Here is the first installment of the Costain/Coscan archive sharing project! Below are the plans and documents that I have for Costain houses built in Convent Glen (Orleans), some of which were also built in Hazeldean Ridge (Kanata). It is a long post, but I wanted to share everything I have.

Canadian Building, May 1971



Below are scans of two Booklets for the Forest Wood and Colonial series houses. c. mid 1970s to early 1980s in Convent Glen:









































A different version of the Forest Wood Series plans, c. 1978:















Also c. 1978:









These townhomes were built c. 1977:




The following collection are plans built from the late 1970s to mid 1980s:







































The original copies of these plans that I have have been cropped - probably to make them smaller for storage, thus the cut off edges.












The following are plans that were built in the early 1980s. There are different versions of some of the plans as they were part of different series built by Costain. Some of these plans were also built in Hazeldean Ridge (Kanata).















































I will also need some help from my readers to complete my Costain plan collection from Convent Glen. I am missing the plans for the houses on St-Germain Crescent. They appear to have been built around 1978-1979 and design names include the Hartford, Brockton and Cambridge. If any of my readers have these plans, please let me know so I can share them!



↧

The Cinderella Houses

November 27, 2016, 4:53 pm
$
0
0
The other day I noticed a house near my work that looked really familiar - and then I realized that I had seen the same house in a booklet that I somehow acquired as a part of my floor plan collection. I have two booklets, one from 1967 and one from 1968 (although there may have been more). They appear to have been published by Allied Building Supply as a way of advertising their products and services through the large-scale renovation of houses in Ottawa.

At the time, the houses would have been showcases of the most up-to-date materials and design. Of note is the "electo strip" in the 1968 house - a product that did not last. Also, the dishwasher that takes 2 minutes to clean looks interesting.

Below are the two brochures:












The 1968 House:









↧
Search

The Costain/Coscan Forestwood Collection

December 3, 2016, 11:53 am
$
0
0
Costain,later renamed Coscan, used the title "Forestwood Collection" (some times spelled as two words: Forest Wood) on many of their plans for decades. At first the plans had names of trees, but this tradition changed with time. In later years it appears that plans included in this collection were all larger, on wide lots, and with two-car garages. I have included many in previous posts, but here are the ones I have from the late 1970s-early 1990s. A series of plans were also built under this banner later in the 1990s, and I will include them in a later post.

Below are the Forest Wood Series of plans from Katimavik in Kanata, c. 1978. This collection of plans has a 1970s contemporary style with wood accents and textures apropos for the look and feel of the architecture built in the area at the time. Some are variations of older Costain plans, but others are new designs. 


















The designs below were built during the 1980s and early 1990s. Most of these plans were printed on 11 x 17 card stock and folded over with the plan name on the cover. They were built in a variety of neighbourhoods in Orleans, Kanata and Hunt Club. Some designs were built en-masse, while others are quite rare in built form. I have arranged them in alphabetical order.





























Below are documents that I have associated with the Forestwood Collection/Series, including maps, site plans, price lists and standard features. This is far from a complete collection, but it is everything that I have.































↧

Century Manor

December 13, 2016, 2:11 pm
$
0
0
This post is a bit of a crossover with my other blog bramaleablog that is about the satellite city/new town of Bramalea, west of Toronto. The company that built the majority of Bramalea grew with time to become one of North America's largest real estate companies, but sadly went bankrupt in 1995.

During its heyday Bramalea Consolidated Developments Limited (later re-named Bramalea Limited) was involved in a few Ottawa condominium projects including The Riviera towers on Riverside Drive near Industrial, as well as the Century Manor towers as featured in this post.

Located at Baseline Road and Clyde Avenue in Copeland Park, these 3 similar buildings were constructed as a joint venture between the local company Aselford-Martin and Bramalea Consolidated Developments Limited. The plans that I have below are for Century Manor; the other two towers on the site are named Manor Square and Manor Garden. They were built between 1974-1976. 

This year (2016) units in the complex have sold from a low of $140,000 up to $250,000 for a large renovated unit.

Courtesy of Google Maps






As was typical of many condominium towers of the time, the buildings have plain facades and the units have straightforward layouts. That said, condominium units from this era are quite large in comparison to those found in newer buildings. In this complex all of the units have very large living rooms, adjacent dining rooms, kitchens with space for a small table, and in-suite storage. The layouts would have been somewhat luxurious at the time with the largest units having ensuite bathrooms and walk-in closets off of the master bedroom. 



A curious aspect of the larger plans is there is a second doorway to the units accessing the master bedroom or bedroom area. Typically a secondary entrance to a condo would be as a service door, but not to a bedroom, so I am not sure why these exist. 





The complex has amenities that include an indoor pool, saunas, workshop, outdoor pools and a tennis court. This "resort-style" condominium complex is something that Bramalea Limited popularized in the Toronto-area market - and expanded upon on a grand scale at the Riviera gated complex in Ottawa. 


As a footnote, I wanted to mention that Ottawa has a history of Toronto-based builders/developers working on local projects. Some have come to stay, while others retreated back to Toronto during harder economic times. Examples that have left the city include Tridel and Great Gulf Homes, while Monarch Homes stayed but is now a part of another Toronto based company, Mattamy Homes, that has entered the Ottawa market. Other Toronto-based newcomers include Urban Capital and Lamb Development Corporation.  




↧
↧

The Dream That Was

December 28, 2016, 9:37 am
$
0
0

Hello readers! In addition to posting on my two blogs, another creative outlet of mine is writing fictional stories. I will be posting one of my books chapter-by-chapter on Wattpad to share it with the world. The storyline may be of interest to my blog readers as it begins in the mid-century period and is inspired by real events as well as the development of the new city of Bramalea. I invite you all to have a read of the first chapter and hopefully you will be drawn to continue reading as I post each chapter. 

Below is the synopsis of the book:

Seeking a better life for his children, a father embarks on the ambitious project of designing and building a new city from the ground up. As the city grows and changes so to do his children, each influencing the other over the decades. In many ways, the city takes on a life of its own, with an outcome that the founding father could never have imagined. Inspired by an actual city built from scratch, and real events surrounding its history, this saga tells the tale of a fictional family from the postwar period up until present day.

Here is the link to the book: 
The Dream That Was

↧

The Costain/Coscan Canadiana Series, Super Singles and Tempo Collection

January 9, 2017, 10:21 am
$
0
0
Below are three series of Costain/Coscan plans from the 1980s-1990s. I know that I am venturing way outside of the mid-century modern period, but as promised, I am posting all of the Ottawa Costain/Coscan plans that I have. 

Costain changed names around 1989 to become Coscan. Costain still exists (with the same logo) as a British construction and civil engineering company. In Ottawa Coscan built until about 2002. Today the company is Brookfield Residential and does not currently build houses in Ottawa.

Some of the plans from these collections have already been shared on my previous post on Convent Glen: Costain in Convent Glen. These three series of houses were built on lot widths approximately 40-feet wide or narrower and were constructed in both Kanata and Orleans.

The Canadiana Series of houses are the older of the three series of designs shown below. A couple of the layouts do not have an ensuite bathroom off of the master bedroom, but instead have a "cheater door" to the main bathroom as well as a sink in a dressing room area. This sink area outside of a bathroom can be found in designs by many different builders going back to the 1960s, but become less popular by the 1990s when full ensuites became common.



















The Super Singles appear to have been a series of more modestly priced houses. They were built on narrower lot widths, have single-car garages and do not have ensuite bathrooms, all ways to cut the costs of building the houses. By having single-car garages, the designs have large front-facing windows on the main floor.




The Bonnechere is a plan that appeared in many of Costain/Coscan's different series of houses, suggesting that it was a popular plan. A very similar plan was built en masse in Brampton during the 1980s, but by a different builder.
























Some of the Tempo Series/Collection houses have dining rooms without windows. Due to the narrow lot widths, it is common to have one side of the house without windows facing a windowed wall on the adjacent house (usually due to fire regulations). 

Some of the designs have protruding two-car garages in front of the house. It is interesting to note how the "artists concept" of the exteriors of these houses shows them at an angle to minimize the garage - a common trick used by many builders. The protruding garage does provide the opportunity for a large family room to be located above it, as is found in a handful of designs. This layout with a family room over the garage was common in Toronto for many years, but Coscan was one of the builders to have popularized it in Ottawa in the late 1980s.

















































↧

Minto Semi-Detached Houses in the 1960s and the early 1970s

February 2, 2017, 1:27 pm
$
0
0
During the 1960s and early 1970s Minto built semi-detached houses in a few neighbouhoods inside the greenbelt, including Beacon Hill, Borden Farm, Briargreen, Parkwood Hills and Tanglewood. 

 Some were previously shared on an older post: Mid-Century Modern semi-detached houses in Parkwood Hills. I am missing a few from this era, but here is everything I have from inside the greenbelt:
The facade of this design plays with solids and voids through blank walls and inset balconies. The result is visually interesting, but the small windows limit natural light in the living room. A while ago I posted on the blank walls that Minto often used in their exterior designs during this time period: The Minto Blank Wall




The Maplewood version above has only 1 front-facing window on the second floor per unit. The design is a melange of traditional with the shutters, but the large picture windows and the blank walls on the second floor add a sense of modernism. The version below is another take on the design with more front-facing windows.






A unique aspect of many of these designs is the location of the fireplace. When set on the inside wall space is needed for the depth of the firebox and thus they are staggered with part protruding in to the adjacent unit. As such, the fireplaces in these plans are not centred on the wall in each respective room.  


A common element with many of the bungalow semi-detached designs is that the bedrooms are at the back, and there is no access to the rear yard from the back of these houses. The Sherwood plan above appears to be a variation designed for a walk-out basement lot with a lower-level back door. The standard Sherwood plan below does not have a back door.  










This design has the "signature" blank wall common to many of Minto's semi-detached designs at the time. The resultant layout has a practical vestibule to one side that open in to a stair hall.



This design has a great modern facade with a low-slung roof line and picture windows that stretch from floor to ceiling.


↧
Viewing all 176 articles
Browse latest View live
Search
<script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.com/r/s/rssing.com.1596347.js" async> </script>