Riverside Park West

As a follow up to my last post, now I will look at Riverside Park West.

Campeau built similar plans to those in Riverside Park East in the area, but there are some new designs as well - some of which are quite modern (c. 1962):

I absolutely love the facade of this house! My favourite features are the horizontal windows just below the roof between the rafters. I also appreciate the straightforward and practical floor plan - living spaces to the front, bedrooms to the back and the bathroom in the core.

It appears that few with modern facade were actually built, but I found this one! On the plan the roof appears flat, but in reality there appears to be a shallow slope.

The same plan, but with a hipped roof.

This facade option proved more popular compared to the flat roof version and there are quite a few in the area - above and below.

The reverse plan was also available with bedrooms at the front.

This design also has a great modern facade with floor-to-ceiling windows.

At one point in time the bayed windows were added, making the facade less modern.

It appears that part of the carport was enclosed - perhaps with an expanded entry area.

The peaked roof version.

The carport on this house has been enclosed, but still must be passed through to access the front door.

Notice how the windows on the house below have been shortened - in comparison to the full-sized windows above.

I quite like the asymmetrical modern facade of this design.

The floor-to-ceiling windows have been shorted on this house.

This house has the carport enclosed as a garage. They must have built a passageway from the door next to garage to reach the main door.

A great sprawling rancher with large windows!

This back-split plan was not built often.

An older Campeau plan - or custom built...I am not sure. This brick pattern around the windows look like shutters - what a cool idea!

The following designs are similar to those found in the Eastern section of Riverside Park.

This house looks like the windows might be original - in all of their enormous splendour!

An added bumped-out entrance.

Pop top over the enclosed carport! Notice the older Campeau design next door.

The addition on the back of the house on the right would be inconspicuous if it were not for the popped out window peaking over the roof.

This appears to be a custom-built house. I just love the balanced facade!

The north-west section of the area has some custom designs as well as houses built by Edstan. See my older posting with the Edstan plans (which were also built in Lynwood Village): http://modernrealtor.blogspot.ca/2011/01/community-spotlight-lynwood-by-edstan.html

Located in the north-east quadrant are these three-storey townhouses with luxurious plans for the time. Notice the fireplace in the master bedroom.

These are the two-storey plans in the same area.

This unique townhouse complex, called Ridgewood, by Campeau, has interesting facades. Similar plans were also built in Leslie Park as rentals. They were renovated and turned into condos a few years ago and now look quite different:

The original floor plans for Ridgewood:

The Ridgewood complex has and intriguing crescent shaped layout.

Hugging Riverside Drive and overlooking Mooney's Bay is a cluster of townhouses by Urbandale (c. 1976) which includes the interesting back-to-back townhouse plan below:

The southern reaches of the area had semi-detached houses built by Urbandale with unique facades and original plans:

While this cluster of semi-detached houses may be on the tail end of the mid-century period (c. 1977), I think think they fit in with the architecture of the era. The modern windows, mixture of materials and contemporary facades makes for an interesting streetscape.

Urbandale also built detached houses in the area, some of which were featured in an older blog posting: http://modernrealtor.blogspot.ca/2012/05/favourite-plans-south.html

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One of the biggest builders in Ottawa during the 1950s and 1960s was Campeau Construction, a name still known today, even though the builder is no longer active. Many of the houses in Alta Vista were custom built, but Campeau was one of the first builders to construct tract homes in the area. Approximate locations of areas where Campeau built Beginning in the 1950s Campeau began building houses southwest of Kilborn Avenue and Alta Vista Drive, north of Randall Avenue. At the time, bungalows and one-and-a-half storey houses were most popular. Many of the “Victory Houses” built by Wartime Housing Ltd. for returning veterans after WWII were one-and-a-half stories, and the style soon became very popular for all builders. Below are some of Campeau's one-and-a-half storey plans built in the area: With time, the one-and-a-half storey house became less popular, and bungalows and split-level houses became the norm. An easy way to determine the age of houses on a street in

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