TO CONTRACTORS
Tenders to be received for the building of a first-class hotel on the Island, Toronto Bay for
EDWARD HANLAN, ESQ.
Plans and specifications, &c. can be seen at our offices. Builders will be required to give substantiated references and security if required. The lowest or any tender not necessarily accepted. Plans, &c, can be seen on and after the 22nd inst.
McCaw & Lennox,
Architects, 9 & 10 Imperial Building, Toronto.
A sketch of the Hotel Hanlan (Illus. 11) made soon after it was built shows an elegant structure, symmetrical in plan and articulated in American “stick style.”12 Narrow columns (stickwork-like) held up an almost fragile-looking two-tiered veranda which spanned and encircled the building. False timbers decorated the dormers, and towers, punctuating the three bays, were covered by gently concave sloped roofs. All in all, a handsome structure with its roots firmly planted in nineteenth-century America. A photograph taken some years later indicates that the Hotel Hanlan, once the preserve of the wealthy, was attempting to appeal to a broader market: note roof advertising (Illus. 12).
Throughout 1880—81 the firm continued to be busy. Their commissions ranged from unpretentious residences13 to grand villas14 and a summer “cottage” in Parkdale;15 from a large brick commercial building “to be erected on Queen-street West”16 to a much smaller one at the southwest corner of Breadalbane and Yonge Street.17 The Yonge Street building still exists; its Second Empire—style roof is much more dynamic than the one McCaw & Lennox designed for Occident Hall four years earlier.
During the spring of 1881 Ned Hanlan decided to improve his resort, and called on McCaw & Lennox to build a “Bowling Alley, Billiard Room, and Hall” on Toronto Island. The call for tender for that commission is the last known documentation of the McCaw & Lennox partnership. At some point between June and November of 1881, the partnership dissolved. By November of 1881, Lennox advertised alone in the “Tenders Wanted” column of the Globe for contractors to submit bids to erect a “Brick Villa Residence on the Allan property, Shuter-street” (Illus. 13).18 The advertisement lists E.J.’s address as Nos. 8 & 9, the Manning Block, at the southeast corner of King and Yonge streets. Lennox had moved out of the offices in the Imperial Building on Adelaide Street East; the partnership was at an end, and McCaw’s name disappeared from the Toronto directory.
Lennox did not have to wait long for important assignments. The architectural profession was in a state of rapid expansion, and the number of firms kept right on growing, as did the population of Toronto and its inventory of buildings.
A LARGE BRICK WOOLLEN FACTORY AND THE BLOOR STREET BAPTIST CHURCH
By February of 1882 Lennox had been commissioned to erect “a large brick woollen factory” on Front Street East.19 It may well be the Standard Woollen Mills building, 223—237 Front Street East, which is now part of the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre.20 And by October he was advertising for bids on the building of a church.21
The Bloor Street Baptist Church, 1882 (Illus. 14), an unassuming structure of red brick with stone trim, was located at the southeast corner of Bloor and North (now Bay) streets. It was altogether an exercise in restraint. Its most commanding feature was a handsome square tower with a relatively short four-sided spire and “on one side of it, a circular turret with mock winding-staircase-windows and short spiral roof.”22 The tower was “counterbalanced” by large buttresses and a wing. Leading to the tower and providing access to the church was an entrance covered by open-timbered roof, projecting gables, and wrought-iron gates.
From an 1885 description of the interior, its auditorium appears to have been comparable to that of the Bond Street Congregational Church. “Opposite the entrances is the platform, with the baptistry — entirely constructed of marble — behind, and above, a handsome choir and organ gallery, supported by carved columns. A gallery for the general accommodation of worshippers runs round the other three sides of the building. The ceiling is plastered, with groined ribs, dome-shaped in the centre and ornamented with carved capitals, bosses, etc.”23
THE BILTON AND CLARKE RESIDENCES
By the end of 1882 Lennox was designing semi-detached residences for Mrs. Bilton on Gerrard Street, 1882—83 (Illus. 15).24 These are excellent examples of Canadian Queen Anne Revival style. They comprise intricate brickwork, elaborate half-timbering, and two large gables. The semi-detached houses were followed by a residence for an H.E. Clarke at 603 Jarvis Street,25 1882–83 (Illus. 16).26
THE MASSEY MANUFACTURING COMPANY OFFICE BUILDING
In March 1883 a reporter from the Globe wrote a story about the building-trade prospects for the coming season.27 The writer had interviewed a number of prominent architects who, “having suffered through a strike and lost opportunities the previous season, believed it wise not to give out information about their prospects.” The writer pointed out that W. Storm, one of Toronto’s more successful architects, supported these sentiments because information pertaining to trade prospects “might strengthen the hands of those who were contemplating demanding increased wages.” Only seven architects spoke frankly about their upcoming assignments. Lennox was at the top of the list with seventeen projects, followed by Langley, Langley, & Burke with eight. The remaining five firms accounted for thirty other prospective assignments. Two significant pieces of information about Lennox can be derived from the report. The first is that he had a very busy practice. The second is that he was not afraid of the threat of increasing wage demands and/or labour reprisal.
Two of Lennox’s commissions highlighted in the article were offices for the Massey Manufacturing Company as well as a residence and coach-house on Jarvis Street for Charles H. Massey. Lennox started the office structure in 1883, and by 1885 the building was completed (Illus. 17).28 A foursquare, red-brick building, very much in keeping with Queen Anne Revival style. It boasted bay windows, dormers, and a wonderful belvedere. Charles died in 1884 and did not live to see it completed. Nor did he live to see the completion of his house at 519 Jarvis Street.
The gabled, red-brick Queen Anne Revival—style house on Jarvis Street stayed in the family (it was bought by Charles’s brother, H.A. Massey, for his son, Chester Daniel Massey)29 and is still standing. It has suffered from inept and unsympathetic additions, but Lennox’s signature use of intricate brickwork and terracotta is still evident on the west elevation. A curved, leaded-glass stair-hall window, original to the house and exceptional in its execution, remains undamaged (Illus. 18). As with most of Lennox’s residential designs, the main staircase starts at the south, rises to a landing, and is lit by an intricate window placed to receive light from the north.
LAILEY RESIDENCE AND 664–682 YONGE STREET
Lennox was also working on 280 Bloor Street West for William Lailey (Illus. 19).30 His interpretation of the Queen Anne style was changing, and the structure was not as appealing as the Massey residence. The combination of a number of elements combined to create a less than coherent design. Corbelling like that featured in the turret of the Bloor Street Baptist Church bell tower was used here as a support for a window on the west side of the house. A polygonal tower with shingles, terracotta panelling, and sharply pointed roof completed the east side of the façade. Above the oriels and breaking the roof line was a balcony, resting on prominent brackets, the whole being surmounted by a weighty projecting gable. Another of his 1883 designs, the Scottish Ontario & Manitoba Land Company, at 664–682 Yonge Street,31 shows that Lennox had not abandoned the Second Empire style (Illus. 20 and 21). This row of stores is much more forceful in appearance than any of its immediate neighbours.
THE MANNING ARCADE
By 1884 Alexander Manning, a Toronto real