Idea File: California Dreaming in Ottawa

In addition to my collection of Ottawa and Toronto-area floor plans and housing ephemera, I also have boxes upon boxes of American plans and articles - with a particular interest in Californian housing.

Within this collection I have some favourite designs that I keep revisiting for inspiration, as I also design floor plans as a hobby (none have been built). Among my most cherished "inspiration" plans are those designed by the mid-century architect partners Robert E. Jones and Edwin K. Hom. Recently I discovered that some Ottawa houses may have been inspired by some townhouse designs by these architects. Here is what I have found:

A while ago I published a post on the Assaly Villas built in the 1960s and 1970s in Westcliffe Estates (Bell's Corners) and Trend Village: Assaly Villas. In these neighbourhoods a series of exterior styles for the houses were offered, including the "Spanish Valencia", shown below:

Many of the houses built with this exterior facade have been altered over the years, but the archway and balconies over the garage with curved details still remain in most cases.

Below is an advertisement from Time Magazine in 1965 showing houses built in San Juan Capistrano, California, designed by Robert E. Jones. Notice how the exteriors are strikingly similar.

The article below from House & Home Magazine in 1965 also shows the same houses - including the floor plans.

In terms of the layouts, the main floors of the two-story designs are very similar to those built in Ottawa, yet there are differences on the second levels. Of interest is the fact that both the California project and the Ottawa versions have 2-bedroom bungalow units (although the plans are not exact matches). Larger versions of the California designs are below:

Here are the Ottawa plans:

If there was any doubt that the designer of the Ottawa houses was influenced by American design, the Colonial Williamsburg (Virginia) elevation options are a sure giveaway.

As mentioned earlier, Robert E. Jones and Edwin K. Hom are some of my favourite tract-house architects, yet there is very little written about Jones and Hom. What I do know is that they were based out of La Jolla, California, and designed a handful of very unique projects, some of which were unbuilt.

In the interest of sharing their inspirational designs, I will veer away from Ottawa for a moment and present a collection of Jones and Hom plans from California:

This design for Huntington Harbor was not built for some reason, and the land was developed with detached houses instead. Yet, the designs are intriguing and I love the architecture of the houses with walls of glass and steep roof lines. I wonder what happened to the scale model they built?

The designs for the unbuilt Huntington Harbor project above appear to have been altered for the Tennis Estates complex built south of the original site. This neighbourhood was actually built with some interesting waterfront townhouse designs.

House and Home, September 1974

I am a very big proponent of the zero lot line concept where houses are pushed up to one side of the lot, creating a larger side yard, instead of two narrow and often unusable side yards. This enhanced usability of a lot can be further expanded with the "patio house" concept by enclosing the whole yard - including the front yard - with a wall. Although not invented by Jones and Hom, they embraced the concept in Westlake Village. In some cases an enclosed yard would allow for a pool to be located at the front of a house.

House and Home, September 1967

Also in Westlake Village, this proposed design for waterfront houses was not actually built. I love the roof lines of the houses and the way they interact with each other. Hiding cars in an covered parkade is also an unusual idea.

The Shores development built in Monarch Beach has a collection of zero lot line houses including one that is pushed right up to the back of the lot. A trademark of Jones and Hom's designs are their use of steep or unusual roof lines to create a sense of weight and paired with large expanses of glass.

House and Home, May 1972

Another patio home project in Huntington Beach:

In Sunnyvale, Jones and Hom designed a series of award-winning houses called Bahl Patio Homes:

House and Home, October 1974

House and Home, August 1969

The Bahl Cluster Homes are fourplexes designed in a pinwheel layout:

House and Home, September 1972

Hopefully these designs from California will help fuel ideas and inspiration for any home renovation/design projects here in Ottawa!

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Campeau in Alta Vista

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

The small Post-War 1 1/2-Storey House - Part One

The small Post-War 1 1/2-Storey House The 1 1/2-storey house is common in certain areas of Ottawa built during WWII and the era immediately afterwards. These houses can be found throughout the city, but larger concentrations include the following areas: Carlington, Courtland Park, Carleton Heights, Meadowlands/St. Claire Gardens, Alta Vista, Overbrook, Eastview, Vanier, Elmvale Acres and Queensway Terrace. The 1 1/2-storey house actually has older roots in European architecture and early North American housing. The style was re-born by Wartime Housing Limited during WWII to fill a need during a housing shortage and were meant to be temporary. The design is economical to build, versus a full 2-storey house, and in some cases the second floor can be left unfinished for future expansion. Here is a link to a NFB short film on the wartime houses: Wartime Housing Below are the 3 basic plans Wartime Housing Limited built in communities across Canada - one of which was a 1 1/2-storey

Modern Mansard - The Neo-Mansard Roof

Throughout the mid-century, the Mansard roof was popular in Ottawa housing design. First popularised in France during the 17th century, and then revived in the 19th century, the roof style re-appeared in Ottawa during the 1960s. At first the roof was used on historically-inspired houses, but was eventually altered in a variety of ways to have a more modern take on tradition. Campeau was the builder who used the roof the most in the mid-century, but other builders also followed suit. A traditional use of the Mansard roof. Playfair Park North/South, Russell Heights, c. 1965. This plan had a traditional Mansard option as well as 2 Dutch Colonial options with a Gambrel roof. Beacon Hill and South Keys, c. 1967. Here is a great example of a modern take on the Mansard roof. Instead of protruding dormer windows with arched tops, these houses have an inset window and an asymmetrical facade. From the side, the roof actually has more of a Gambrel-style silhouette.

Costain in Ottawa - Part One: Blackburn Hamlet (Detached Homes)

Some of my long-time readers may remember that I did a series of posts on Costain a few years ago. For some reason, a few of my older posts have vanished from my blog - for reasons unknown to me. So, I have re-created this post on the builder Costain due to interest from some of my readers. On the positive side, I have been able to get my hot little paws on some new floor plans and marketing material, so there is more material in this post compared to the original (now lost) post! In the mid-1960s the builder Costain (originally from England, but with an impressive global portfolio) came to Ottawa to develop a new hamlet in the eastern greenbelt called Blackburn Hamlet. Today Blackburn Hamlet is very lush with mature trees and extensive parkland, surrounded by the NCC Greenbelt. The west side of Blackburn Hamlet has 3 neighbourhoods separated by parkland, Westpark, Southpark and Centrepark. The Northpark and Eastpark neighbourhoods

Campeau in the late 1950s and early 1960s

Below is a collection of floor plans that Campeau built in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I quite like the first plan with its blank front facade to the right of the front door. It gives the house a modern take on the Cape Cod-inspired 1 1/2 story style. I do not believe that many of this design were built, though. I also quite like this design below, with its blank facade and large wall of windows in the Living Room. Too bad my only copy of the plan is cut off at the top.

CMHC house designs from the mid-century

Between 1947 and 1974 the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), formerly Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation, published regular floor plan books of small houses suitable to be built in Canada. Blueprints could be ordered for the architect-designed plans, and examples of the built houses can be found throughout Ottawa. There are so many interesting plans that were available through the CMHC, so this is only the first posting with some of my favourites. If you recognise any of these designs that have been built in Ottawa (or elsewhere in Canada), please feel free to share the location with me! I have always been a fan of the butterfly roof! Although there are no front facing windows on the above design, the cedar shake cladding makes for a very interesting facade. The architect was based out of Kanata, and I could easily see this house fitting into the natural landscape of Beaverbrook - although I don't think it was actually built there. The central atrium h

Amberwood Village - Stittsville

Another blog post by request! Located south of Hazeldean Road east of Stittsville Main Street is a very special "adult-lifestyle" neighbourhood begun in the late 1970s. The original phases of Amberwood Village consist of a series of houses built in clusters along the edges of the Amberwood Golf Course. The development was originally built by a company called Jaric Developments Ltd. The architect of this original portion of the area was W.G.Mohaupt - who also designed the "courtyard singles" in Hunt Club (see my old post Favourite Plans South and scroll down to see these designs) - and also used to design houses for Minto. The clusters of attached houses are grouped on dead-end lanes and units are attached is a variety of arrangements. Some designs have an attached garage, while others have detached garages clustered together with others. The result is a very interesting streetscape with a lot of open space between units. Image courtesy of

The bungalow staircase

California spearheaded the popularity of the bungalow (or ranch home), in mid-century North America. In California, basements are rare. During WWII and immediately afterward, some Ottawa houses were built without basements to save costs. But, the appeal of having a basement as extra room for storage and expansion space, meant that the basementless house did not last long. Having a basement meant that California-inspired designs had to be adapted to allow room for a staircase down. The placement of the basement stairs in bungalow design is sometimes a challenge. With a two-story house, often the staircase is located in the front hall, but this is not the case with many bungalows. While a staircase up leads to finished rooms on the upper floor, the staircase down to the basement was historically linked to service spaces. Basements in older houses were more utilitarian, so there was no need to have the basement stairs on display like the stairs to the upper floors. A staircase down also

California Modern in Ottawa

During the mid-century era, California became the epicentre of modern design. From the architect-designed case-study houses, to the mundane tract house, all eyes were on California. In Canada, books and periodicals on architecture filled with Californian design would have sparked the imagination of Architects and designers. W hen one thinks of Mid-Century Modern (MCM) California tract housing, the name ‘Eichler’ often comes to mind. Perhaps one of the most famous MCM tract builders, Joseph Eichler, defined MCM design in the United States. His widely-published designs even captured the imagination of Canadians. Any designer/architect in the know would have seen an Eichler plan. In Ottawa, there are a few examples of houses built in the 1960s with floor plans that could have been influenced by those being built by Eichler. The most famous Eichler-built designs are those with an open-air atrium at the centre. One of the floor plans built by Teron in Beaverbrook during the 1960s feature

MCMC - Mid-Century Modern Condos

Do you love MCM design, but are looking for a condominium apartment to call home? Ottawa has a good selection of MCM buildings where your Eames chair will feel at home. While some may find the plain exteriors of many MCM condos too severe, they usually have very spacious units inside - especially compare to the tiny condos built today. The simplicity of some of the plans may seem boring, but upon closer inspection, the well-proportioned rooms and abundance of natural light is quite appealing. MCM condo apartments were built in the later half of the period, as the first ever high-rise condo building in Canada was built in 1967. The Horizon House is located in Ottawa, and was built by Minto in Parkwood Hills. There were buildings built earlier in the mid-century, but they are rental apartment buildings. This particular posting will focus only on condo buildings. Horizon House - located at Meadowlands Drive and Chesterton Drive in Parkwood Hills. Built in the mid 1970s,

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