I am diligently working on my latest post that will look at how we went from houses like this:  To houses like this: Stay tuned!

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 t...

A reader recently asked me to share some good examples of MCM townhouses and semi-detached houses in Ottawa. Some of the examples I will show are located close to downtown, so this post will also do double duty as part of my series on MCM houses near downtown. Many of the townhouses built in Ottawa during the mid-century period are actually quite traditional. But, in the mid 1970s and early 1980s, a series of townhouse complexes were built in central Ottawa that had a certain ‘look’. Although they are on the extreme tail-end of the MCM period, I find them to be architecturally akin to MCM design. Some may argue that they lean more towards the contemporary style, but I still think that they can be included in this blog. This row is located on Booth Street at Albert. I particularly like how each house is painted a different colour. Cathcart Mews in Lowertown has an interesting grouping of townhouses and stacked townhouses. c. 1980 Springfield Mews in Lindeanlea was built b...