Canadian Housing Design Council award homes in Ottawa: Then and Now

The original version of this post was published 4 years ago, but it actually ties in quite well with my current academic research on how homeowners change the facades of their houses. I have updated some aspects, including more before/after images of the award homes. Also, the original post just focused on the award homes built by Minto, but I have added a Teron award-home at the end of this post.

During the 1960s and 1970s a handful of Ottawa builders won numerous Canadian Housing Design Council awards for their house designs.

For the awards, builders entered one particular house built from their plans. I was curious to see how these award-winning houses stood the test of time, so I searched the addresses on Google Street View to see what they look like now. Many look almost the same, but some have changed over the years - some dramatically.

1974

2010: At some point a second window was added on the front of the house to balance out the facade and give it a more traditional look. The wood-slat privacy fence is still there!

Here is another house from the same plan in the neighbourhood where a window was also added to the front facade...but not one that matches...

1971

2010: Unlike the last house, this one still has the one off-centre window on the facade (which was a trademark of Minto designs of the time). I Love the colour scheme! It is hard to tell if the garage is new, but the style fits perfectly with the house.

The modern facade of this design seems to have been an issue with quite a few homeowners. As seen in the next few photographs of houses built from the award-winning plan, traditional elements (and windows) have been added.

While the original colour scheme seems to be intact, the decorative trim work has added a traditional layer on to the front of this house.

Adding another window and shutters gives this house a very traditional look.

Again, a second window has been added to balance out the facade. It looks as though white vinyl siding was used to replace the original wood.

1969

2010: The trees have really overgrown this house! Another signature element of Minto designs was having a section of blank wall facing the street.

2013: The house is visible again! Most of the houses on the same street built from this design remain intact. There are a couple of white versions of this design, with brick instead of stone - which makes me believe that they may have been built that way and not changed from the earth-tone version. There are also some slightly different versions of this house - but alas, I do not have the plans...so if you do, please let me know!

2013: Not much has changed except for the front and garage doors. The windows might still be original, and the wood tones on the facade look great!

1969

2010: New front doors have been added, and the new picture window has slightly different proportions compared to the original. Here is another great example of the blank section of facade facing the street.

1962

2010: The entrance court has been enclosed and the carport turned into a two-car garage. The brick wing wall was perforated next to the windows to create a new front entry. Enclosures of the carport have been done on other houses built from this plan in the area - in various different ways.

1962

2010: This house has undergone many changes. Since the house is on a corner lot, the garage was re-located to the side, and the original garage made in to a room (which was done in keeping with the style of the house, and looks great!). A bay window was also added.

1969

2010: The one-car garage was expanded to a two-car garage, and the window box was removed.

2010: The real difference can be seen in this view from Bing Maps, showing a small addition at the back.

1967

2010: The house looks the same, except for the newer garage door. The original garage door had great horizontal lines, but the new one works too, as it ties in to the geometry of the decorative brick wall. They also kept the globe lamp out front!

Since I first wrote this posting, I was able to visit one of the other 2 houses based on this plan in the area when it was for sale. It too remained quite intact outside (and inside). The third house on the street actually has an unpainted brick screen wall in front for a completely different look.

2013: It is hard to see the whole house behind the lush vegetation, but the shuttered window stands out, as the original design was modern and did not have any shutters.

2010: The house looks the same, except for newer white garage doors and newer white windows. The original design appears to have dark window trim and doors - probably stained wood.

2013: A more recent view of the house shows the new colour scheme, more monochrome in comparison to the original facade.

2010: The house looks pretty much the same, just with the addition of white windows.

2013: A few years later and a whole new lighter colour scheme.

2013: This is another house in the area built from the same plan. The homeowners here added a porch and traditional-style windows changing the facade completely.

And a plan by Teron:

2013: The front facade of this house appears the same, with the beautiful exposed rafters. Below is a shot from the side of the house that shows that a bay window was added in the main bedroom. The sliding door with side windows next to it appears to indicate that the two smaller bedrooms have been combined into one space.

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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...

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

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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 silh...

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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 n...

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 atr...

Amberwood Village - Stittsville

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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 stair...

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...

Neighbourhood Spotlight - Beacon Hill North

The Beacon Hill North area, east of downtown, has some great examples of MCM houses. Map of Beacon Hill North The two main builders in Beacon Hill were Minto and Campeau. For the most part, the Minto-built homes are in the centre of the community (in an area that was also marketed as Beaconwood), and the Campeau-built homes act as book-ends on the western and eastern sides. Simpson Homes also built a handful of large houses in the northwest portion. In addition, there are a few pockets of houses built by other builders, including MacDonald Homes, as a part of the H.O.M.E. Plan (Home Ownership Made Easy) – particularly on the east side. The Campeau houses in the southwest portion of the area were marketed as being in Rothwell Village, due to their location bordering Rothwell Heights. The houses built in this area were Campeau’s larger two-storey and split-level models. One of the Campeau designs in Rothwell Village. The same design was also built in Arlington Woods. ...

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