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

Second Empire Style in Canadian Architecture

by Christina Cameron and Janet Wright

Canada: Stirrings of Second Empire

Although Second Empire did not gain wide popularity in Canada before 1870, there were occasional hints of its impending ascendancy before that date. The mansard roof, of course, had been used for public and domestic buildings in New France, a direct import from 17th century France. However, mansard roofs were outlawed during the French regime because their massive structural components were considered to increase the hazard of fire. The earliest reappearance of the mansard roof, combined with other Second Empire features, seems to have been the design for the Toronto General Hospital. It was available to the general public, for a drawing by architect William Hay was published in the Toronto-based Anglo-American Magazine in 1854 (Fig. 10). It is interesting to note that Hay, Scottish-born and English-trained, had as his apprentice Henry Langley who later became one of the major proponents of Second Empire design in Ontario.

Another early example of the appearance of Second Empire features may be found in the winning designs of 1859 for government buildings to be erected at Ottawa for the Province of Canada. Although two different architectural firms participated in this grandiose project, the group of buildings presented a remarkably homogeneous appearance (Figs. 11, 12, 13). Three imposing buildings were arranged in stately U formation on the spectacular site known as Barrack Hill. There is no doubt that the basic concept comes from the Gothic Revival style. The original proposal submitted by Fuller and Jones, architects for the centre block, supported the use of the Gothic style for, as they explained, they "were fully convinced that a Gothic building only could be adapted to a site at once so picturesque and so grand."¹ And certainly much about the building is Gothic, including the rough masonry, pointed openings and round buttressed library resembling a mediaeval chapter house.

Other aspects of the design, however, are more closely allied to the Second Empire style. The mansarded towers with their flurry of iron cresting, for example, are drawn from Second Empire prototypes and contribute to the picturesque effect of the roofline. The Wellington Street façade is organized in balanced pavilion units so much in the spirit of Second Empire planning. This arrangement stems from the architects' assessment of the site. While acknowledging that the Gothic idiom was most appropriate for the rugged river side, Fuller and Jones believed that the more park-like nature of the Wellington Street frontage necessitated greater uniformity. Their solution for this façade, using symmetrical pavilions crowned by slate-covered mansard roofs, indicates their determination to create "a dignified, elegant, and also cheerful appearance, and that its character should tend more to the Palatial than the Castellated."² The undeniable importance of this undertaking, which attracted the attention of the entire architectural community and the Canadian public at large, meant that it had a significant influence on subsequent building in Canada.

Nevertheless, one of the first full-blown examples of Second Empire design in Canada appeared in Toronto in 1868 when the provincial authorities selected a Second Empire design for Government House, the official residence of the lieutenant-governor, that required a state dining room, ballroom and conservatory (Fig. 14). The architect was none other than Langley, previously mentioned in reference to the Toronto General Hospital. The public was made aware of the originality of this residence, for the Canadian Illustrated News reported that it was "in the modern French style of architecture."³ With this building, one could say that the Second Empire style was truly launched in Canada. The fact that this was the residence of the provincial head of state and the centre of Toronto society in a sense put the official seal of approval on this new fashion. In Toronto its impact was immediately felt as is evidenced by the numerous "French style" mansions which appeared in the early 1870s in the fashionable residential suburbs.

For the architect, Henry Langley, this commission would have established his reputation within this stylistic idiom, and therefore it is not surprising that in 1871 the prestigious government contract of the new Toronto Post Office should have come his way.