393 Wellington Crescent – The Fortune Residence, a 2½-storey dwelling of wood-frame construction clad in stone, stucco and mock half-timbering, was built in 1910-11 and occupies a large riverbank lot in the Crescentwood area of south Winnipeg. Designed by W.W. Blair, the Tudor Revival styled mansion was built for the family of pioneer real estate developer Mark Fortune. The house was only a few months old when Fortune and his son died in the Titanic shipwreck of 1912. His wife and daughters were rowed to safety and continued to live in the great riverbank home until about 1920. The expansive, irregular, slightly L-shaped house has various projecting elements such as bay and oriel windows, a stone terrace, an east-side sun room, and pronounced exterior stone chimneys. The steep, complex roof line of truncated hip and side-gable sections has twin overlapping front (south) gables, hipped dormers on all sides, and a gabled rear bay coupled with a massive stone chimney. The sturdy stone foundation and wood-frame construction are elegantly clothed by rusticated limestone and roughcast with ornamental half-timbering. The many windows are mostly flat-headed squares or tall vertical rectangles of various widths arranged in singles or groups, but also include a rear eyebrow window. The offset main entrance includes a grand stone staircase integrated with a tower-like two-story bay window. The door is set within smooth-cut stone. Other details include bracketed eaves, barge boards, and window surrounds of smooth-cut stone and plain wood.514 Wellington Crescent – hipped roof with dormers, and tall chimneys; second floor balcony above entrance; pediment above second floor central door and window grouping; second floor balconies on both sides of the house550 Wellington Crescent – St. Mary’s Academy – since 1869 – corner stone A.D. 1902 – is an independent, Catholic school serving young women in grades seven through twelve.633 Wellington Crescent – Greek Revival style – two-story tall Doric pillars topped by a pediment638 Wellington Crescent – Queen Anne style, cornice return on gables, dormer in centerWellington Crescent – Italianate – 2½-storey frontispiece with pediment, dormers in attic61 Heaton Avenue – quoining, second floor balconette with composite pillars and balustrade, pediment with decorative cornice and year 1904123 Main Street – Winnipeg Union Station was built 1908-11 for the Grand Trunk Pacific and the Canadian Northern Railways. Beaux Arts style with balanced plan and classical details of the grand central arch flanked by paired columns and topped by a large dome. Here a horse-drawn cart is seen passing in front of Union Station. Although largely abandoned as a primary means of transportation by the 1930s, some commercial businesses continued to use the horse and cart into the 1950s.
450 Broadway Avenue – The Manitoba Legislative Building, erected in 1913-20, is a monumental reinforced concrete, steel and stone structure on a formal landscaped site between Broadway and the Assiniboine River in downtown Winnipeg. The pinnacle of Beaux-Arts Classical architecture in the province is an imposing seat of government symbolic of local strength and vitality and of the import of the official functions that occur within its walls. The solid, massive edifice, which dominates its expansive site and is visible from various vantages, is a disciplined expression of classical Greek Revival styling crowned by a symbol of youth and enterprise, the Golden Boy, graced by allegorical and historical ornament, and proudly wrapped in local Tyndall limestone. Key elements that define the building’s stately Beaux-Arts Classical architecture include the symmetrical H-shaped massing, rising three stories from a high base, and sheathed in channeled and ashlar Tyndall stone. The strong horizontal lines are reinforced by the flat roof, continuous modillioned cornice, parapet and other banding elements, and the rhythmic arrangement of windows. The multi-tiered central tower has offset corners, fluted Corinthian columns, a full entablature, a copper-paneled dome with small round dormers, and a cupola crowned with the Golden Boy. There are porticoes on each facade, large stone staircases, and colonnades with giant order columns, full entablatures, pediments, and finely detailed entrances. There are many rectangular windows with some framed by architraves, others in relief surrounds. The exuberant and profuse details throughout include stone and metal balustrades, pilasters, engaged columns, belt courses, niches, raised panels, and urns. There are many exceptional historical and allegorical sculptures, including twin sphinxes flanking the north pediment, figures and groupings of figures.545 Broadway Avenue – three-story tower with cone-shaped roof, dormer, pediment, deep wraparound verandah222 Broadway Avenue – The Fort Garry Hotel is one of a series of Chateau-style hotels built by Canadian railway companies in the early twentieth century to encourage tourists to travel their transcontinental routes. Popular with the traveling public for their elaborate decor and comfortable elegance, these hotels quickly became a national symbol of quality accommodation. The Fort Garry Hotel was built in Winnipeg in 1911-13. Its Chateau style is evident in its steeply pitched, truncated hip roof punctuated by multiple peaks, progressively smaller dormer windows, and finials; its imposing massing; its smooth-cut stone cladding; and its elaborate decorative stonework. Its main block is divided into three vertical sections defined by continuous bands of string coursing and entablatures. It has a two-story arcaded base containing the ground floor lobby and dining rooms; six intermediary stories with a regular, alternating, window pattern; and a two-story arcaded top containing the main reception rooms. It has strips of oriel windows flanking a slightly recessed center, delicately carved gables, Indiana limestone walls, a grey granite base; and copper roofing. The steep copper roof is defined by a multitude of small shed- and hip-roofed dormers, highly elaborate stone dormer facades at the corners, many pinnacles, and a large ornate chimney. Rich detailing is seen in the decorative stonework at the cornice, balcony balustrades atop the bay windows, and a rounded stone turret topped by a polygonal roof. It has a formal entrance with stone stairs, brass railings, and a copper-detailed canopy. There are grand, double-height interior public spaces on the ground and seventh floors. The ground floor consists of a main lobby; a main dining room; and a circular dining room at the rear. The elaborate main lobby is surrounded by a mezzanine with four large corner piers joined by arches with keystones bearing the national or provincial emblem; a marble inlay floor; marble stairway with iron and bronze balustrade; gold-trimmed piers and moldings; bronze railing around the mezzanine; paneled ceiling; and the front desk is concealed between two pilasters. The main, two-story dining room, occupies the length of the west side of the ground floor, and includes: large windows; marble dado; bronze sconces and chandeliers; a paneled ceiling with modeled bas-reliefs of dragons, thistles, pine cones and tulips; bronze, French doors with bronze handles ornamented with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) logo.433 Broadway Avenue – Land Titles Building – cartouches 19 and 04, composite capitals on the pilasters, pediment with decorative tympanum, dentil molding, parapet433 Broadway Avenue – Entrance – transom, door voussoirs with keystone, scrolled pediment391 Broadway Avenue – The Winnipeg Law Courts National Historic Site of Canada is located directly across from the Legislature Building in the provincial government precinct of downtown Winnipeg. It is a three-story, Beaux Arts style building of sculpted grey limestone. Its monumental scale and prominent siting attest to its important role and symbolize the judicial institution of Manitoba. Constructed during an extended period of great optimism in the province, the Law Courts building was designed by the Provincial Architect, Victor W. Horwood, to complement the new Legislative Building, a monumental Neo-classical structure under construction across the street. Beginning in 1912, construction of the steel-framed Law Courts took four years and was timed to open in conjunction with the new Legislative Building. The formal grandeur of the classically-inspired Beaux-Arts design reflects the dignity of the Law Courts. An elaborate corner cupola with a raised copper dome ties the pedimented pavilions on the south and east facades together, and draws the eye to the columned “grand entrance†on Kennedy Street. Across the facades run a dentilled cornice and a deep parapet, all in creamy-grey limestone. Interior court rooms feature large windows, with the higher courts accessed by interior passageways so that prisoners could be brought directly into the court from holding areas below, and to provide private entries for the judges.10 Kennedy Street – Government House – the official residence of the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba – completed in 1883 – Manitoba’s Government house is a structure of solid masonry walls and timber floor framing. It is Second Empire architecture with a flat steep-side mansard roof with dormers. The royal bedroom on the second floor is reserved for use by the sovereign and other Royal Family members when they are in Winnipeg, and the gold room accommodates royal support staff or other royals if the monarch is occupying the royal bedroom. The attic floor has been divided into four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting room, and a three and one-half room suite for the resident housekeeper. From this floor the tower can be accessed. The lieutenant governor’s standard is flown when he or she is in residence. Manitoba’s Government House is surrounded on three sides by manicured gardens. In 2010, part of the grounds was dedicated as the Queen Elizabeth II Gardens by the Queen on July 3 that year, in preparation for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. At the same time, a statue of The Queen that had been created in 1970 by Leo Mol was moved here and unveiled by the Queen.26 Edmonton Avenue – cornice brackets, two-story wraparound verandas37 Edmonton Avenue – Queen Anne style, turret, veranda with Doric pillars, pediment, two-story bay window
210 Maryland Street – 3-story circular tower with cone-shaped cap, dormer199 Maryland Street – Tudor half-timbering745 Westminster Avenue –1910-1912 – featuring a beautiful rose window – Westminster United Church is a substantial stone edifice built as a Presbyterian facility in 1910-12, in the Late Gothic Revival style. It is of monumental proportions with a disciplined yet expressive exterior. From its imposing towers to its monochromatic limestone dressing and exquisite rose window, this church is a striking and vital presence in the tree-lined Wolseley neighborhood. Key elements that define the church’s style and stone construction include the substantial, expansive form of an elongated rectangle on a high base, with wide stubby transepts and a deep west annex, all built of stone around a metal and wood frame. The vertical emphasis is provided by the main volume’s two-story-plus mass under a high gable roof with cross gables. It has long slender windows, many buttresses and an elevated front entrance flanked by soaring towers of unequal height with tall belfry openings and crocketed pinnacles. The walls are of rough-cut Manitoba limestone randomly laid; there are smooth- and rough-cut door and window accents, staged buttresses with smooth offsets, and broad stone staircases. The distinctive Gothic-style openings, many set in Tudor arches, some with matching hood-molding, many with tracery, including the main volume’s five-part transept openings are other key elements. The large multi-hued rose window with curvilinear tracery is beautiful. Gothic details include crenelation, raised gable ends with smooth stone coping and banding elements, panels of blind pointed arches, and pinnacled colonnettes. The two-story annex has a hipped roof, dormers, south pavilion and porch, and generous fenestration. There are large chimneys.830 Wolseley Avenue – two-story turret erupting through roof838 Wolseley Avenue, Moyse House, is a brick mansion erected in 1913. It is an example of a Georgian Revival mansion, an architectural style that was popular in the Wolseley neighborhood, an area of mostly single-family houses along the north side of the Assiniboine River, and south of Portage Avenue. Its orderly facades, hipped roof with dormers, red brick finish contrasted with light limestone and wood trim, classically detailed rear verandah and signature Palladian-style window all speak to the skill of the architect, P.M. Clemens, who also designed the house next door in a similar fashion. John Moyse was the owner of a downtown livery stable. Key elements that define its style include the nearly square plan, 2½ stories in height, its brick construction on a raised limestone foundation, a hipped roof, gable dormers, and a west gable end that doubles as a pavilion pediment. Other elements include the harmonious, symmetrical facades, with walls of mainly flat red brick. The many windows are mostly tall rectangular flat-headed openings in singles, twos or threes, with several having multi-paned upper sashes. The two primary entrances are a north door with sidelights and a fanlight accessed through a modified two-story wooden porch and an elaborate west entrance recessed below a broad brick and rusticated stone archway, and flanked by compact round-arched windows. The classically inspired details and features include modillioned wood cornices along the main roof, and south verandah, prominent keystones and arched brickwork over windows, stone windowsills, cartouches in the north dormer and west gable ends, the south-side walkout, and tall chimneys.960 Wolseley Avenue – In December 1913, when Mrs. Isaac Cockburn (Laura Secord’s granddaughter) formally opened the ten completed rooms, the school stood among empty market garden fields on the fertile banks of the Assiniboine River, at 960 Wolseley Avenue. The school occupies a large site in an older residential neighbourhood. When completed, Laura Secord School was the most modern building of its kind in the city. Twenty-six classrooms, two manual training rooms, a huge auditorium that seats 800, shops, showers and a third-floor caretaker suite made it one of the largest schools built during the era. It covered over 25,000 square feet per floor and was 72 feet tall. The school had separate entrances for boys and girls which continued to be used until the mid-1970s. The similar shading of materials on Laura Secord demonstrates how they age and discolor differently. All the limestone has a dirty appearance because it tends to accumulate pollutants faster than the brick. This is very evident on the foundation and windows sills and is common on many older buildings with limestone elements. While the stone darkens, the brick develops a patina, adding to its lightness. Laura Secord School’s most stunning feature is the baroque entrance way. Of fireproof construction, the school features long, classically ornamented rectangular facades organized around an interior courtyard. Inside are classrooms with large windows for natural light and ventilation, wide corridors, staircases and exits in all wings, and usable basement spaces. Key elements include its substantial, nearly square form, two stories high over a raised basement, of reinforced concrete construction with brick and limestone walls and a shallow mansard-shaped roof lined by semi-elliptical dormers. The impressive front has a central tower, an arched open porch accessed via broad twin staircases and end pavilions divided into three bays topped by stepped gables containing half-circle windows. The many tall rectangular windows, most with stained-glass transoms, are set in single, pairs and banks of four throughout. Fine brick- and stonework on all elevations includes a high rusticated stone base and pale brick walls laid; a wraparound stone belt course is above the second floor. Delicately carved stone column caps and keystones are found on the front porch. There are stone sills, coping and pilaster caps; brick pilasters, corbelling and spandrel detailing. There is an elaborate arrangement of brick and stone voussoirs atop the tower’s round-arched upper window. The stone-carved name ‘LAURA SECORD SCHOOL’ and a stained-glass version of the school’s crest on the tower are additional features.180 Nassau Street – turret and dormer549 Gertrude Avenue at Nassau Street – Trinity Baptist Church – Romanesque style stone building, tower with finials with cone-shaped caps, rose windows, buttresses525 Wardlaw Avenue at the corner of Nassau Street – Crescent Fort Rouge United Church – 1910 – a stately Romanesque Revival style church with banding on the towers218 Roslyn Road – Corinthian capitals surrounding door with a semi-circular transom; circular windows on either side of door; balustrade on second floor windows, pilasters with Ionic capitals, decorative cornice, banding; two story tower at back176 Roslyn Road – dormer with keystone above central window; banding above second floor windows; dentil molding353 St. Mary’s Avenue – St. Mary’s Cathedral was originally designed in 1880 by C. Balston Kenway and was updated in 1896 by Samuel Hooper, an English-born stonemason and architect who was later appointed Provincial Architect of Manitoba. The building features elements of Romanesque Revival and Germanic tower and spire. It is the cathedral church of the archdiocese of Winnipeg, one of two Roman Catholic cathedrals in Winnipeg; the other one is St Boniface Basilica of the archdiocese of St. Boniface and is across the Red River in Winnipeg’s French Quarter.
