Montreal (and housing vernacular)

[Archivist]

I'm very fond of the building that Urban Shocker mentioned, on King:

It's quite subtle, and plain in many ways, but fits into the neighbourhood well. I've never been able to find any information on it, however, such as the architect.

 

[Urban Shocker]

Archivist: I've suggested Clewes - based on the unusual inclusion of the string course ( used in his other buildings ), and the remarkably pared-down take on Georgian/Regency.

Looking for clues ... I think I spy Clewes!

And ask yourself, if not The Great Man ... then who?

 

[egotrippin]

I also like these rowhouses on King, they're right around the corner from me too. All it needs is a little more mature greenery, stretches in this area are a little stark.

 

[junctionist]

That does look stark in the photo. There's one tree for that whole stretch of houses.

 

[ganjavih]

Anyone know the name of this development? Seems to be inspired by Boston's rowhouses.

 

[Hipster Duck]

I also like these rowhouses on King, they're right around the corner from me too. All it needs is a little more mature greenery, stretches in this area are a little stark.

Yup, and those wires need to come down, too.

ganja, the development is called "The Corktown Brownstones".

 

[Urban Shocker]

... and, yes, it is by Clewes.

 

[TKTKTK]

I assume that the block of approximately 10 three storey rowhouses with bowed fronts, on the north side of King between Sumach and Ashby, are also by Clewes. They employ a projecting string course to emphasize the upper floor - a device he used in Mozo, as well as in the Upper East Side townhomes pictured above where it is suggested by a change in brick colour. His strength obviously lies in designing multi-unit towers - aA and Context lead the charge to reclaim that territory - but I think these more conventional low-rise buildings swipe the spirit of earlier styles quite nicely without resorting to copyism.

I'm surprised to read you defend those. There's some nice details for sure, I love the walk-ups/walk-downs. But, they've always struck me as unfinished up above - and the way they side onto Sumach is criminal.

 

[devil_dice]

The first (and only) time i visited Montreal, I was shocked by the type of greystone architecture I found. We stayed in a hostel near the Laurier subway stop (I hope that's the right name), and I loved just walking around the area. What struck me the most was how much more dense Montreal's midtown areas were compared to Toronto's midtown. Three/four-story apartments compared to two-story semi detached houses here, respectively.

Not saying that I prefer one to the other, but I thought the iron staircases leading up to many second and third-floor residences were unique.

 

[Hydrogen]

I lived in such a third floor apartment for a while. The stairs are unique - but not always fun the winter. Any ice or frozen snow was a big problem. Cleaning the stairs took time. Then I moved to a ground floor unit and hat to contend with the variability of city snow removal that was found on the island of Montreal.

 

[Urban Shocker]

TKTKTK: Why would you be surprised that a contemporary take on late Georgian/Regency terraced housing would be successful? I can think of a few other local buildings that reference the past ( the McKinsey building, KPMB's King James Place, Jerome Markson's Market Square for instance ) that also work. The Corktown Brownstones are done confidently, using a few bold gestures - bowed fronts, a suggestion of rusticated masonry for the lower level, slim windows, iron railings, that string course zipping across - that capture the essence of a style in visual shorthand without being pretentious faux.

 

[canrocks]

I'd like to see some sort of detailed discussion of the wrought-iron staircases of Montreal and how there are none to speak of in Toronto. Someone write that up, chop chop.

 

[urbandreamer]

^In uptown Waterloo (Herbert street, just off Allen, I believe) someone brought a Montreal staircase to their red brick Victorian. It makes me think of my wonderful life in Montreal everytime I pass by it....

(I'm currently working on a photo tour of Toronto's "flat-roofed Victorian-era townhouses. Shockingly, there's actually quite a few of those in the city. Someday I'll get around to posting the photos.)

 

[Hydrogen]

... chop chop.

That's exactly what I had to do to the ice that used to build up on my stairs!

The fact that Montreal gets much more winter than Toronto always makes these stairs that much more interesting.

Chop chop.

 

[adma]

I'd like to see some sort of detailed discussion of the wrought-iron staircases of Montreal and how there are none to speak of in Toronto. Someone write that up, chop chop.

Er, other than the New York tenement-fire-escape variety, are such wrought-iron staircases indigenous to *anywhere* in North America outside of the Montreal/Quebec orbit?