Residential Architecture: 

Conservation Area Context Statement

Glenora Historic Resources Inventory, January 2017

Author:  Donald Luxton and Associates Inc.

“The land was originally owned by HBC employee Malcolm Groat who purchased River Lot 2 in 1878. In 1905, the land was acquired by James Carruthers of Carruthers, Round & Co., who envisioned developing it as an enclave for the city’s professional and political elite. The 1911 subdivision was surveyed by Richard H. Knight, who utilized a standard grid-iron layout in the western section and a more refined Garden City Suburb layout in the south and eastern sections. The Garden City Suburb movement was developed by Ebenezer Howard in the 18^th century as a reaction to overcrowding cities and industrial pollution in England. His vision incorporated streets and lots into the natural topography and rolling greenbelts separating industrial and residential areas. The New Glenora subdivision features curvilinear streets, irregular lots, and preserved viewscapes to the river valley to the south. Greenbelts and small parklets preserve the natural landscape of the neighbourhood. New Glenora was further regulated by a restrictive caveat in 1911, known as the Carruthers Caveat, stipulating wide setbacks, restriction of commercial buildings, and minimum of $3000 to $5000 for new houses constructed. Concurrently, Carruthers negotiated the sale of Block H, the southeast corner of the neighbourhood, to the provincial government to be built out as the Lieutenant Governor’s residence. A stunning sandstone residence, built in the Jacobean Revival style was constructed in 1913 and served as an important draw to the city’s elite to settle in the neighbourhood. With only a handful of lots purchased and developed prior to the First World War, the highest concentration of building occurred in the late 1920s to early 1930s, known as Glenora’s ‘Golden Age’ of architecture…  Many were built by prominent architects in the Period Revival style. Development stalled during the late 1930s through the Second World War, resuming with vigor in the late 1940s with the Post-war boom. During this period, more modest houses were constructed on smaller lots in the Minimal Traditional and Modern styles. By the 1960s, most lots had been developed. The 1911 Glenora subdivision, with its high level of integrity and preservation, is one of the best-preserved Garden City Suburb neighbourhoods in Canada.”