This is the first in a 2-part series on the Skyline neighbourhood. Located between Baseline and Medowlands, just east of Merivale in Nepean, the neighbourhood was almost exclusively built by Minto, and is characterized by a hilly terrain. In this instalment of the series, I focus in on the houses that were built in the area that have a decidedly Mid-Century Modern style.  The Mid-Century Modern style was put on display in Skyline in a bold way when the 1965 Canadian Home of the Year was constructed by Minto. It appears to be the only one of its kind to be built in Skyline, but there are other plans that Minto built in the area that seem to take inspiration from this house. Below are excepts from the July 1965 Canadian Homes Magazine in the Ottawa Citizen that highlights the Canadian Home of the Year: The Ottawa Citizen.  July 31, 1965 The Ottawa Citizen. August 20, 1965 The Ottawa Journal. September 18, 1965 The following plans built by Minto in Skyline have a Mid-Century Mode...

Below are two pages from a 1959 "Home Building in Canada" magazine issue with plans for 4 Minto-built homes in Parkway Park. These happen to be the only plans I have for homes in that neighbourhood, so if any of my readers have more, I would love to share them!

Over the years I have been inspired to take a deep dive in to various projects for my blog, such as past endeavours like publishing all of my Costain/Coscan, Assaly and Beaverbrook floor plans. My latest project is to take it up a notch.  The Campeau Corporation was responsible for constructing approximately 25,000 houses in Ottawa during the 1950s to early 1980s, and the builder has clearly left an imprint on the city. I personally have a very extensive collection of Campeau floor plans, brochures and price sheets, but it is not complete. My goals of this latest project have a few key items: - Posting on my blog all of the plans/brochures that I have - Creating a timeline for the Campeau neighbourhoods in the city - Mapping the Campeau neighbourhoods in an interactive Google map (this may eventually expand to a map with all of the Mid-Century neighbourhoods in Ottawa by all builders!) - Reaching out to my readers and the Ottawa community to get a hold...

This is the first in a multi-part series that will look at the art of the mid-century floor plan. In this instalment, I will look at the documents themselves. Namely, the focus will be on the way the plans are presented in terms of the paper, colours used and style. I have selected just a sampling of the plans I have on file. CAMPEAU Campeau's brochures were typically earth-toned in the early years of the mid 20th century, yet splashes of colour were sometimes used. Later in the 1960s and early 1970s, the brochures were dark and moody, in some cases the colour of the paper overwhelmed the images of the houses and floor plans. This is the earliest Campeau plan brochure that I have, c. 1957. It is on glossy paper and folds out to reveal the house plans as shown below. I find the plans to be a bit too small for my liking. This booklet c. 1959, has 1-2 plans per page, much larger than the above brochure. The key shape as a theme is carried throughout. ...