SHEPPARD, Hugh Powers (1890-1984) a leading architect in Windsor, Ont., and a partner in a succession of architectural firms in that city including:
Nichols, Sheppard & Colthurst (1921-22), with David W.F. Nichols and G, Buller Colthurst
Nichols & Sheppard (1922-24), with David W.F. Nichols
Nichols, Sheppard & Masson (1924-1931), with David W.F. Nichols and George Y. Masson
Sheppard & Masson (1931 until after 1960), with George Y. Masson
Sheppard, Masson, Brand & Langlois (after 1960)
Born in Windsor, Ont. on 16 November 1890, he attended Windsor Collegiate Inst., but he did not receive a formal university education in architecture. Instead, much of his knowledge of design and construction was gained by articling with, or working for, several firms in the Border Cities area, including the Windsor firm of Watt & Crane (1907-09), and for the Detroit firms of Barnard C. Wetzel (in 1909-11), for Albert Kahn, a leading architect in that city (in 1911-13), for Van Leyen & Schilling (in 1915-17), for Malcolmson & Higginbotham (in 1917-18), and for H.M. Lane & Co. (in 1918-20). In Windsor, he was invited by David W.F. Nichols to join him in a new partnership in 1921, and they in turn were joined by George Y. Masson in 1924 (see lists of works under Nichols, Sheppard & Masson). The collaboration between both Sheppard and Masson was immediately successful, and was to endure for the next four decades until the retirement of Sheppard in 1969. Their best know work after WWII was the modernist design of Windsor City Hall (1957).
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Sheppard took a particular interest in the historic architecture of Windsor, and drew the plans for the restoration of the Hiram Walker Historical Museum (Baby House) in the late 1950’s. He served as President of the Ontario Association of Architects in 1950, and was elected as Fellow of the Royal Architectural Inst. of Canada in 1953. Sheppard died in Toronto, Ont. on 24 October 1984 (obituary Windsor Star, 26 October 1984, A7; inf. from Mr. Hugh Sheppard, received January 1982; inf. Ontario Association of Architects). A photographic portrait of Sheppard was published in the Daily Commercial News [Toronto], 20 Oct. 1936, 1, and in the Windsor Daily Star, 23 Jan. 1950, page 5.
SHEPPARD & MASSON (works in Windsor)
(with John E. Trace and Guy B. Colthurst) DOMINION PUBLIC BUILDING, Ouellette Avenue at Pitt Street, 1932-33 (C.R., xlvi, 6 Jan. 1932, 44; and xlvii, 6 Dec. 1933, 1101-10, illus. & descrip.; Canada, Sessional Papers, 1932-33, iv, Report of the Chief Architect, 20-1, descrip.; Andrew Foot, Windsor Then & Now, 2021, 50-51, illus.)
(with John E. Trace) WINDSOR ARMOURY BUILDING, University Avenue East, major addition, 1935 (Border Cities Star [Windsor], 2 Jan. 1925, 5)
MERETSKY & GITLIN LTD., retail store, Ouellette Avenue near Park Street, 1937 (C.R., vol. 50, 25 Aug. 1937, 40)
GREYHOUND BUS TERMINAL, London Street East at Chatham Street, 1940 (C.R., liii, 10 Jan. 1940, 28; Building in Canada, Autumn 1940, 79, illus.; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 216, illus. & descrip.)
DETROIT & WINDSOR TUNNEL CO., Passenger Entrance Building and Customs Warehouse, 1942 (dwgs. at Windsor Municipal Archives, RG4)
BENDIX ECLIPSE CO., Argyle Road, a large factory and assembly plant, 1942 (C.R., lv, 26 Aug. 1942, 26, t.c.; Financial Post [Toronto], 24 April 1943, p. B9, illus. in advert.)
LIDDY & TAYLOR, Ouellette Avenue, retail store, 1942 (C.R., lv, 11 March 1942, 28, t.c.)
KENT MANOR APARTMENTS, Ouellette Avenue near Giles Boulevard, 1943 (inf. Hugh Sheppard)
(with J.P. Thomson) GRACE HOSPITAL, Crawford Avenue at University Avenue West, addition of the North Wing, 1945 (Windsor Daily Star, 24 Feb. 1945, Section Two, p. 7, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxii, Nov. 1945, 235, illus.)
WALKERVILLE, ONT., St. George's Anglican Church, Devonshire Road, 1946 (inf. from Hugh Sheppard)
(with J.P. Thomson) PACKARD MOTOR CAR CO., Walker Road, showroom, office and assembly plant, 1946-47 (C.R., lix, July 1946, 105; Financial Post [Toronto], 31 Aug. 1946, 5, descrip.)
CANADIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY, Ouellette Avenue, near Giles Boulevard, 1949 (C.R., lxii, May 1949, 170)
BEAUTY COUNSELORS OF CANADA LTD., Windsor Street at Ellis Street, office and warehouse, 1950 (Windsor Daily Star, 28 Oct. 1950, 17, illus.; inf. Robert Hamilton)
ST. AIDEN'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Wyandotte Street East at Westminster Boulevard, 1950 (inf. Hugh Sheppard)
ST. ANDREW'S ANGLICAN CHURCH, Tecumseh Road East at Windermere Road, 1952, proposed design, but not built, and the commission later given to Philip Carter of London, Ont. in 1955, and church renamed St. Barnabas Anglican Church (Windsor Daily Star, 13 March 1952, 5, illus.; inf. Robert Hamilton)
VICTORIA ORDER OF NURSES, Giles Boulevard East at Mercer Street, office building, 1954, demol. (Windsor Daily Star, 25 Jan. 1954, 26, t.c., and 16 March 1954, 3, illus.; inf. Robert Hamilton)
SHEPPARD & MASSON (works elsewhere)
SANDWICH, ONT., Hydro Electric Company, office building, 1931-32 (Windsor Star, 4 Nov. 1931, 5, illus. & descrip.)
HARROW, ONT., Harrow United Church, Munger Avenue East near Walnut Street, 1931-32; still standing in 2024 (Windsor Star, 7 Nov. 1931, 4)
LEAMINGTON, ONT., H.J. Heinz & Co., Processing Plant and Vinegar Building, 1933-34 (Detroit Free Press, 25 April 1934, 9)
TIMMINS., ONT., Timmins Daily Press Building, for Roy Thomson, Cedar Street South, 1939-40; demol. 1997 (C.R., liii, 1 May 1940, 10-13, 33, illus. & descrip.; Timmins Daily Press, 30 Sept. 1940, illus. & descrip.; essay by Dr. Anita Spadafore, 'Arte Moderne in the North: The Timmins Daily Press Building, in Northward Journal [Toronto], liv, 1990, 28-43, illus. & descrip.; Tim Morawetz, Art Deco Architecture Across Canada, 2017, 43-44, illus. & descrip.)
TORONTO, ONT., Eaton-Clark Chemical & Dye Co., warehouse, Queen's Quay East near Jarvis Street, 1947-48 (C.R., lx, Nov. 1947, 143)