A new article!

A new article, written by Jess, was published today, April 12, in Raise the Hammer.  This article looks at the famed Auchmar House (1855) situated on the top of the Niagara Escarpment. There is no known architect for the house and so it is given a much-needed stylistic analysis in this accessible little article.

Read it online here:
http://www.raisethehammer.org/article/1351/auchmar_house_hamilton

If you are interested in visiting the house, it will be part of Doors Open Hamilton May 7 & 8, from 10am to 4pm!  Don't miss it!

Where does the time go?

Hello everyone,

Is it possible that it is almost mid-April?  Time flies and this PhD thing is pretty time-consuming.

Sorry for our lack of posts, but know that we are hard at work and we will have some great fodder for the blog soon! We have an exciting trip to Quebec planned for next month and that is just the beginning...

Jess and Candace

CCMAH this weekend

This Friday and Saturday (March 11&12), the annual Canadian Conference of Medieval Art Historians is being held at the University of Toronto. We will be hearing papers regarding current research in medieval and medieval revival art and architectural history.  In terms of Canadian architecture, we will be hearing from Peter about Non-Anglican Gothic Revival in Nova Scotia and from me about the Gothic Revival Auchmar house in Hamilton, Ontario.  We will also be hearing from our medievally-inclined friends Malcolm, Candice and Ronny about Norman, Norwegian and English architecture in the 11th and 12th centuries.

It should be a great weekend. Good luck everyone!

Restoration Project

Today, I was fortunate enough to have been given a tour of a recent restoration project on a fully-detached nineteenth-century house near Harbord and Spadina in Toronto. This house, which blends elements from the Richardsonian Romanesque and Queen Anne styles of the late nineteenth century, retains much of its original interior woodwork and its original mixture of stylistic features that compose its characteristically Torontonian facade. We will be keeping an eye on this project, not least because my father's company is handling the restoration as well as the large addition on the rear. Way to go, Dad! It's looking great!

Top 5 visits of 2010

2010 was an amazing year for building visits and looking back over the year, there were a couple of definite highlights. To say goodbye to 2010 and to kick off 2011, we have selected our top 5 building visits of 2010. Here they are in order of the dates that we visited them.

1. Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, BC

In April, we packed our cameras and headed for the west coast where we were extremely lucky to get a tour of Christ Church Cathedral with special access above the stone vaults and on the roof to see the flying buttresses. For more photos, click here.

2. The Church of the Holy Cross, aka the "Skookumchuk Church," Skatin, BC

While in BC, we travelled inland to see this wooden marvel. The 1905 Carpenter's Gothic church is currently undergoing repairs to restore it to its full glory. For more information, visit the Ama Liisaos Heritage Trust Society.

3. Auchmar House, Hamilton, ON

This spring, we visited this spectacular Gothic Revival villa perched on the top of the Niagara Escarpment. There will be more to come in the next few months on this fascinating house, but for now, click here.

4. The Provincial Normal College, Truro, NS

In May, we packed up again and headed to the other side of the country to explore Nova Scotia. We went to Truro to check out the Anglican church, but we were pleasantly surprised to find this Second Empire gem. This 1877 red brick building proved to be one of our favourite stops!

5. Old Holy Trinity, Middleton, NS

One of our last stops in Nova Scotia was to visit this 1789 wooden church. The Gothic windows in this little church may well mark one of the earliest appearances of the motif in Canada.  It was a great visit and a great way to wrap up our trip out east!

We're back!

Hello everyone and happy 2011!

We'd like to sincerely apologize for the incredibly long hiatus.  Both Candace and I completed our comprehensive exams shortly before the holidays which took many months of preparation, hence no blogging for many months.  Fortunately, we are now on the other side and back in action - back to our own research, travels and blogging!

Thanks for your patience and we look forward to getting back to posting regularly.

Jess and Candace

Above: Candace and Jess posing somewhat awkwardly in a strange side-by-side door frame

SSAC 2011 is coming!!!

(above: The Arvida Bridge)
In May, the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada will be holding its 38th Annual Conference in Arvida, Quebec.

Arvida, a town located in northern Quebec, was founded in 1927 as a company town by the Alcoa (Alcan) aluminum company as a model town for working families. Its name is derived from its founder, ARthur VIning DAvis, the president of Alcoa from 1910-28.

All of the Malcomites will be in Arvida for the conference and all are presenting papers on differing aspects of Canadian architecture. Candace and Malcolm will be chairing a session on Urban and Village Churches with 9 presenters.

The Conference is open to all Society members. To become a member or to find out more about the conference, visit the SSAC website at:
www.canada-architecture.org/