Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 24

Second Empire Style in Canadian Architecture

by Christina Cameron and Janet Wright

Introduction

It is difficult to determine precisely when the name "Second Empire" became attached to a particular architectural style. While architectural historians writing after World War II almost invariably use the term "Second Empire" or "International Second Empire" to refer to ornate mansard-rooted designs of the third quarter of the 19th century,¹ contemporary observers never once referred to it as "Second Empire."

Admittedly, these writers were often conscious that the roots of the style lay in the Second Empire of Napoleon III of France, but they chose a variety of terms to describe it. In Canadian literature of the 1870s, we find a broad range of labels. Journalists writing in the Canadian Illustrated News described such buildings as "Renaissance" or "Palladian" or, interestingly enough, "in the modern French style of architecture."² The chief architect of the Department of Public Works in his annual reports gives different stylistic names to buildings of similar Second Empire design including "Italian" (his favourite choice), "Renaissance," "Italian Renaissance," "classic," "modern classic," and "free classic."³

American writers were as conscious as their Canadian counterparts of the "Renaissance" or "Italian" aspect of the style, but they tended to be more aware of the French connection. American pattern books often illustrated designs for what they called "French-Roof Cottages," "Anglo-French Cottages," "Anglo-French Villas" and "French-Italian suburban residences."⁴ Certain contemporary writers were even more articulate in their assessment of the style. In 1866 the committee responsible for the construction of Boston City Hall stated that the new public building "may be described as the Italian Renaissance, modified and elaborated by the taste of the French architects of the last thirty years."⁵ Two years later, John Kennion, commenting on modern buildings in New York City, made a similar analysis, by stating that "the style ... is what should justly be called the Franco Italian, or in other words, a French adaptation of the Italian style."⁶ But it is in his description of the new Albany state capitol that Kennion achieved the definitive contemporary statement.

It is designed in the Renaissance, or modern French style of architecture, a style which will at once be recognized by those conversant with the subject as the prevailing mode of modern Europe, and one which the taste of the present Emperor of France in particular aided by the numerous and able staff of government architects, has for some years so largely illustrated in most of the renowned modern works of the French capital. Derived originally from Italian sources, and partially from the late edifices of the Venetian republic, this beautiful style has now been so successfully naturalized in other countries as to have become, in fact, the prevailing manner for most of those secular edifices of a dignified and permanent character which the wants of our times have called forth.⁷

To select a single 19th century term to describe this style would be a difficult task. From the wealth of labels proposed by contemporary writers, two prevailing themes emerge: the Renaissance aspect and the French aspect. While recognizing that the term "Second Empire" is indeed a modern one, we have chosen it as the most comprehensive and universally accepted term to describe this particular stylistic manifestation.

The Second Empire style is most readily identified by the mansard or broken roof (the "French" ingredient noted by contemporary writers) combined with a rich classicizing treatment of the façade, often with superimposed columns and sculptural decoration (the "Renaissance" factor). The earliest versions of this florid style began to appear in major Canadian cities in the late 1860s. During the 1870s, these ornate buildings took Canada by storm; but by the mid-1880s, after a rapid fall from fashion, they were no longer being erected.

During the period that Second Empire triumphed, it was considered to be particularly appropriate for institutions and public buildings (just as Gothic Revival at the same time was the only correct style for religious structures). By association, Second Empire became one of the acceptable styles for urban residences of the bourgeoisie. Although the style itself did not really change during its two-decade domination, the scale and degree of ornamentation varied enormously, depending on such factors as function, client, availability of materials, craftsmen, and established local traditions of building.

The Canadian Inventory of Historic Building, with its data bank of over 180,000 recorded buildings, has proved to be a useful tool in tracing the influence of the style across Canada. In its formal dress, the Second Empire style crossed local, provincial and even national boundaries, and in this sense was truly "international." But when this official form encountered regional cus oms and conditions, the resulting designs offer a variety of charming and individual solutions. The Canadian Inventory of Historic Building has made it possible to identify this more informal and distinctly Canadian aspect of the Second Empire style.