A Talbot Tour

Yes, it's that wonderful time of year again, when it's warm enough to walk through London's older neighbourhoods and soak up traditional architecture. Of course, it's the wrong time of year for photography because there's too much foliage in the way. Long walks are best in early spring and late fall when the weather's not too hot or too cold and the trees are bare, allowing a view of what's behind them.

But when you're enjoying a staycation and it's not raining, it's tempting to take an early morning walk in one of London's 'hoods, even in a summer heat wave. I toured Talbot and Ridout since it's one of London's oldest areas and offers ample food for architectural thought. Once home to many of our most prosperous citizens, it's now a mixture of older homes and apartment buildings. Many of the homes have been subdivided into apartments or converted to office space. Some look good and others not so good.

First, I noted the double houses in the area. 593-595 Talbot, an Italianate built in the 1880s, clearly had a verandah across it at one point. Note the bargeboard in those pointy gables.

Farther north is 651 Talbot, built in 1905 for C. A. Whitwam, V.P. of Hobbs Hardware, but sold soon afterwards to the McCormick family of biscuit fame. I 'm fond of the cute dormer with curved glass and cone-shaped roof. The typical Edwardian Palladian window to its right is surrounded by shingle bargeboard. Note the grand arched front entrance matching the trio of lower-floor windows at right. Also the lovely verandah with balcony above, tall chimneys on either side, and modillions (small brackets) under the roofline. This is a home that says "We're successful and proud of it." Remained in the family until about 1970. Love it.

Next door at 653 Talbot is a home of equal size and quality but built only a few years later in a very different style.  One could be forgiven for thinking it was much more recent than 1908. But this 2.5 storey red brick Georgian Revival was indeed built that year for Thomas W. Baker, lumber merchant and president of London Box Company. According to recent realtor ads, it was "gutted to the studs" and converted to a triplex in 2018. Pity about that ugly cement wall but the house still looks great. The garage is later, of course. 

Below is an example of why it's the wrong time of year to take photos. Sorry. This is a nice 2.5 storey  ca. 1868 home covered with stucco. Note the elaborate enclosed entranceway behind the trees. Not to mention the string course separating the first and second storeys. This was once the home of Josiah Blackburn's daughters, Grace and Susan, both well-known writers. Grace wrote under the name "Fanfan." Susan was the first woman to graduate from Western.**  

Besides grand mansions, I notice there are Ontario cottages in the area, some delightfully preserved. This one has a graceful curved porch and still has its (original?) finial and pendule in the gable. Built in the 1870s, it was for many years the residence and studio of  Albert Templar who often painted scenes of London. 

No. 601, next door to the above, was built in about 1873 and first occupied by David Bruce, a fire department engineer. Cute bull's-eye window in the gable. Fieldstone entrance porch likely later, ca. 1920s, replacing an earlier. Who's that peeking over the roof?

Other cottages are in good condition, but require some work:

This apartment building stands where Talbot Street School used to be. I know we need highrises and this one isn't particularly ugly but the Gothic schoolhouse with belfry built in 1892 must have been adorable. Unfortunately, it was demolished in 1981 so I never saw it.

An Italianate with the typical double brackets appears at no. 611 ...

... and it has a nice solid London Doorway. According to London Doorways by Julia Beck, published by ACO London, this home was built in 1868. The top arch, here slightly hidden by a light, touches the frame of the doorway above. The smaller matching arches over the sidelights extend to the height of the door. This style is mainly found here in London and in a few surrounding communities.

This is where Locust Mount (demolished in 2008 after a fire) used to be. There's a lot I could say about this, but most of it has already been said, ad nauseum, by others. A typical London heritage disaster.

Just along the street, though, at no. 585, is this well-preserved stately home which is not unlike L.M. It has the same symmetry, slightly projecting central portion and triangular pediment. According to an early ACO London booklet, this house was built in 1869 by Joshua Dalton, possibly from a design by William Joanes.* I have to admit this is one of my favourite buildings in the area, if not in London. An Italianate, it has the typical double brackets under its deep overhanging eaves. The windows have heavy stone semi-circular headings with ornamental keystones and stone lintels. It looks like it might have its original panelled door with sidelights and transom.  

Across the street is another example of a projecting entrance and pediment. Not quite as grand or well preserved but simple and neat. 

I also walked by First Christian Reform Church, built as Talbot Baptist Church in 1881. Constructed in the Gothic style popular at the time, it has gorgeous buff brick, red brick trim, and ten years ago had matching red doors. I couldn't get a decent picture of it today (too much sun reflecting off the glass), so I've substituted a picture I took back in 2015. It looks virtually the same as it did then anyway, except they've painted the doors black (which is OK but not as stunning). And yes, I really do like that glass addition. It totally works. 

Another lovely, simple building is 76 Albert Street, built in the Georgian style for London Free Press publisher Josiah Blackburn. Note the historic plaque. Part of the London Squash & Fitness Club property, it's well maintained by them. This is another house, by the way, that once had a verandah, now removed. While many would call the building plain, its simplicity is stately and attractive. 

According to London's Heritage Register, 618 Talbot is a Neo-Classical building from 1881. I would have thought it was much earlier, one of the earliest buildings in the area, in fact. I'm going by the oval window up in the gable which typically appears in earlier buildings. It reminds me of the doctor's house at Upper Canada Village as well as a picture you'll see if you scroll down on this page. I know they're on the other side of the province but the shape is similar. 

Over on Ridout Street, I paused at no. 565. Built in 1910 for Judge Talbot Macbeth, it has many Georgian Revival features, such as symmetry, small-paned windows and a brick string course between the first and second storeys. Unfortunately, it's now a frat house, and nobody can wreck a building like students. Windows currently boarded.

Another attractive Queen Anne residence is at no. 530 Ridout North. Built in 1903, probably for wholesale milliner John C. Green, it's almost a mirror image of the McCormick house at no. 651 Talbot. The arches on the lower windows and doors are a nod to the Romanesque Revival style. In early 20th century, this house had other mansions on either side; together, they would have made an impressive streetscape and their residents would have had a pleasant view of the Thames River. Now there's an apartment building on one side, a parking lot on the other, and the view is mainly obstructed. 

The trim in the gable of no. 472 caught my eye. At first I thought it might have been added later but now I think it's similar to the trim on the gable of the Charles Sommerville mansion shown here.

I've captured some of the best of this neighbourhood but much of it is run down and in need of sympathetic refurbishment. I say "sympathetic" because there's lots that isn't:

A close-up of the trim in the house above. Our society either does not have the materials and craftsmanship necessary to preserve an older building, can no longer afford them, or we no longer care. I suspect a combination of all three.

Then there's the fake heritage. Like when developers build a highrise with a nod to the neighbourhood's history at street level. Apparently having the lower floors in red brick is supposed to make it fit in. 

Thank goodness there's still Eldon House. I don't expect every property to be a museum, but I think we could do much better with the older homes we have left.

* The Talbot Tour. Geranium Walk IV. Sunday, June 5, 1977. ACO London.

** Brackets & Bargeboards: Walks in London. ACO London, 1989, p. 13.

London Architecture: Ontario Cottages

One of the most common home styles in London is the Ontario cottage, popular from the early days of settlement right through to the early 20th century. Usually a single storey with a square plan, the Ontario cottage has one or two windows symmetrically placed on either side of a central doorway. A hipped roof slopes from a central point to all four sides. Although small, there's often an extension at the back. And while some are very simple, such as 23 Cathcart Street, shown at right, others have more ornate doorways and decorated gables, like 12 Cathcart Street below.

Some would call "Ontario cottage" a misnomer. The cottage is actually found in many parts of the world and isn't native to Ontario. The style probably received its name because it's prevalent in Ontario and not seen so much in adjoining provinces or states. The style was influenced by Regency architecture, but, in fact, the Regency cottage can be traced back to a style of home brought to England by soldiers who had served in India. Once it became popular, it was naturally transferred to other parts of the Empire.

 

After a few years in Ontario, the cottage changed a little. The pitch of Ontario roofs is usually steeper than English ones, probably to provide for more insulation against winter weather and to let the accumulation of snow slide off. The pitch was so steep that sometimes a half storey would be added under the roof and a Gothic window added to light the upstairs as in the ornate 47 Bruce Street shown below.

Hundreds of Ontario cottages are scattered throughout London's older neighbourhoods. Often constructed for tradesmen, labourers, and clerks, the Ontario cottage must have been deemed the most practical and affordable home the average person could build. Cottages are still practical as starter homes or for singles and couples not requiring a mansion.

A variation is the side hall plan with the front door on one side. A cute example, shown below, is 1 Dundas Street near the Forks of the Thames, now the First Hussars Museum.

The oldest cottage in the city isn't found in the downtown core, however. Flint Cottage in Springbank Park, below, likely predates any other cottage in our area. Fisherman-turned-builder Robert Flint built the cobblestone buildings well known in the Byron area, including this family homestead, built 1837. The cottage remained in the possession of the Flint family until 1891 when it was bought by the London Board of Commissioners. It became a stop and shelter for the London Street Railway.

Whether downtown, in Old North , Old South, Old East, Soho, Blackfriars, or beyond, there are enough cottage examples in the city to fill several posts.  International and yet home-grown, quaint but somehow stately, the Ontario Cottage has become an integral and charming part of London, Ontario's architectural tradition.