A blog reader gave me the suggestion for this post on Boyd Block houses in Ottawa (thanks A.H.). These are the historic houses that were built in the Ottawa area out of cement blocks that have a stone-like finish and were made by the Boyd Brothers Concrete Company. From Radford's Cement Houses c. 1909 Upon further research, I found that there were already some good resources on the history of Boyd Blocks: https://www.boydbrosconcrete.ca/history/ http://magickcanoe.com/blog4/?p=1 https://oldottawasouth.ca/history-project/2009/09/30/boyd-block-house/ Given the information already available, I want to add some additional notes of interest. The "heyday" for the Boyd Block houses was during the first two decades of the twentieth century. This time period in architecture was one where styles such as the American Foursquare and Edwardian houses were common in Ottawa. These were less ornamental in style compared to the Victorian period and thus lended themselves to the use of Boy
In this final instalment of the series on Convent Glen, I present East Port Cove. Located in the middle-north section of the area, this pocket is sometimes referred to as Hiawatha Park, and was not a part of the original Convent Glen master plan. Much like the The Neighbourhood in Convent Glen/Eastwood Park , this area was subject to the ups and downs of the real estate market during the 1990s. I have included more newspaper clippings than normal to show the changes. It is clear that the builders were struggling and it took about 8 years to sell this relatively small pocket of homes. In 1990 East Port Cove was launched with a consortium of builders on the project. Over time some of the builders went out of business. The final homes in the area were built by Woodfield Homes and includes a number of custom designs. The Ottawa Citizen. March 3, 1990. The Ottawa Citizen. March 24, 1990. The Ottawa Citizen. March 31, 1990. The Ottawa Citizen. April 14, 1990. The Ottawa Citizen. April 24, 1