DAVIDSON, Jocelyn (1892-1974), a talented but highly underrated architect active in Toronto and Vancouver who can be credited with some of the most impressive private residences and mansions in Canada in the early 20th C. Born in Toronto on 18 November 1892, he was educated at St. Andrew's College, and attended the University of Toronto from 1911 to 1915, graduating from the Dept. of Architecture at the School of Practical Science. He moved to New York City and spent a year working in the office of Delano & Aldrich in 1915-16, then served overseas with the Imperial Army during WW1, and returned to New York in 1919 to rejoin that firm. It was there that he gained important skills at designing stately and refined mansions for the Astor family, the Rockefeller family, and the Whitney family. In 1920 he moved to Seattle, Washington and worked for two years in the office of Daniel Huntingdon (1871-1962), a leading architect in that city who served as the official City Architect for Seattle from 1912 to late 1921. From there, Davidson moved to Los Angeles to work in the office of Witmer & Watson, Architects for 6 months, He also attended summer classes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and at the American Academy in Rome for 8 months during 1921.
Davidson opened his own office in Toronto in late 1924 and during the next decade he completed designs for elaborate private mansions for some of the leading (and the wealthiest) businessmen in Canada such as W. Garfield Weston, Edward P. Taylor, George B. Heintzman and Percy R. Gardiner. Davidson was a master of the Tudor Revival and Georgian Revival styles, and his designs were superbly built, with refined scholarly detail that confirm his wide-ranging knowledge of British precedent. His largest residential commission is undoubtedly that of 'Windfields Farm', the sprawling mansion for Edward P. Taylor on Bayview Avenue (1936-37), a property which was later gifted to the City of North York and is now occupied by the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies.
After the outbreak of WWII, Davidson joined the Canadian Navy and moved to Vancouver. He chose to remain there and continue his career as an architect, becoming Regional Director of the National Housing Adminstration for B.C., He opened his own office in Vancouver in late 1948, and was joined by his son Ian Davidson in 1958 as Davidson & Davidson Architects. Jocelyn D. retired in December 1965 and later died in Vancouver on 6 September 1974 (death notice Vancouver Sun, 10 Sept. 1974, 45; biography Who's Who in British Columbia, 1944-46, 64; inf. Ian Davidson, Vancouver; inf. Ontario Association of Architects; inf. Architectural Institute of British Columbia). His successor was his son, the Vancouver architect Ian Davidson (1925-2007).
(works in Toronto unless noted)
BAY SERVICE LTD., Bay Street at Cumberland Street, auto service station, 1924; demol. (Architectural Forum [New York], xlv, July 1926, 51-2, illus. & descrip.)
ETOBICOKE, residence for Andre Lapine, Mosson Road, Lambton Mills, 1926 (C.H.G., iii, Jan. 1926, 20, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, v, July 1928, 267-8, illus.)
NORTH YORK, 'Deepdene', a residence for George B. Heintzman, Pinewood Avenue, 1927 (C.H.G., v, Jan. 1928, 27, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, v, July 1928, 264-5, illus.)
OLD FOREST HILL ROAD, residence for Gordon N. Shaver, 1929 (C.H.G., vii, Jan. 1930, 24-6, illus.)
NORTH YORK, residence for Jocelyn Davidson, architect, Old Yonge Street, 1929 (Toronto Star, 17 Aug. 1928, 4; C.H.G., vii, April 1930, 99, illus. in advert.)
GRACE CHURCH-ON-THE-HILL [Anglican], Russell Hill Road, addition of a chapel and new tower, 1929 (inf. from Grace Church-on-the-Hill)
NORTH YORK, mansion for Ernest H. Watt, Blythwood Road near Bayview Avenue, 1930 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
NORTH YORK, residence for James S. P. Armstrong, Old Yonge Street, 1930 (C.H.G., viii, Jan. 1931, 29, illus.)
ROY ART GALLERY, Yonge Street at Isabella Street, for Robert G. Roy, 1930-31 (Toronto Star, 5 Dec. 1930, 37, illus. & detailed descrip.)
WESTON, 'Rivermead', a residence for Percy R. Gardiner, overlooking the Humber River, 1930-31 (Telegram [Toronto], 19 Aug. 1930, 11, descrip.; and 16 Sept. 1930, 13, illus.; C.H.G., xi, June-July 1934, 40-1, illus.; and xvi, May 1939, 50, illus.)
NORTH YORK, 'Hilltops', a residence for Justice Henry H. Davis, Old Yonge Street, 1934 (C.H.G., xii, Aug-Sept. 1935, 36, illus.)
VAUGHAN TOWNSHIP, residence for W. Garfield Weston, c. 1935 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
NORTH YORK, mansion for Edward P. Taylor, Bayview Avenue near Post Road, 1937-38 (Toronto Daily Star, 5 March 1937, 12)
OTTAWA, ONT., residence for Justice Henry H. Davis, Mariposa Road, Rockcliffe Park, c. 1938 (C.H.G., xvi, April 1939, 26-9, illus.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xviii, June 1941, 102, illus.)
NORTH YORK, residence for George Hemmerick, Lawrence Avenue East near Bayview Avenue, c. 1938 (C.H.G., xxiv, May 1947, 24, illus.)
YORK MILLS, large residence for Louis Bruno, 1938 (Toronto Daily Star, 24 June 1938, 8, illus. & descrip.)
NORTH YORK, a group of five detached houses, on Mason Boulevard "...not far from Loretto Abbey", likely the group situated near Eastview Crescent, with access from a private driveway off Mason Boulevard, including two houses in solid stone, one in white painted brick, and two in red brick, 1938-39 (Toronto Daily Star, 23 Sept. 1938, 34, descrip.; and 8 May 1939, 28; and 15 May 1939, 30, illus.)
MIMICO, a group of low cost small houses on Hillside Avenue, west of Church Street, for the Town of Mimico, funded under the National Housing Act., 1939 (Advertiser [Mimico], 17 Aug. 1939, 1 & 2, descrip.; Toronto Star, 21 Aug. 1939, p. 28, descrip.; inf. Michael J. Harrison, Mimico)
OTTAWA, ONT., Naval Training Station, 1942 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
(works in British Columbia)
WELLS, B.C., housing for the Cariboo Gold Quartz Mining Co., c. 1947 (Vancouver Sun, 21 May 1948, 14, illus.; list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
TAHSIS, B.C., housing project on Vancouver Island for the Gibson Bros., c. 1948 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Gospel Centre Church, Main Street, 1948 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Frank H. Wiley & Sons, West 2nd Avenue near Cypress Street, factory, c. 1948 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Neolite Ltd., Burrard Street at West 2nd Avenue, warehouse, c. 1948 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
VANCOUVER, B.C., American News Co., Commercial Drive at East Hastings Street, warehouse, c. 1948 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
VANCOUVER, B.C., '2400 Tourist Court', Kingsway near Clarendon Street, a motor hotel, c. 1948 (list of works in Architectural Inst. of British Columbia Application, 11 July 1951)
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Carl F. Barton, Newton Wynd Street, 1949 ( J. Bond, University Endowment Lands Architecture 1940-1969, 1993, 20, illus. & descrip.)
VANCOUVER, B.C., residence for Dr. E. Karley Pinkerton, West King Edward Avenue near Granville Street, 1950 (C.H.G., xxvii, Aug. 1950, 38-9, illus.)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Horley Street Senior Citizens Housing, Horley Street at Euclid Street, 1952-53 (Province [Vancouver], 9 May 1952, 21, illus.; and 16 Jan. 1954, 8, illus. & descrip.)
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., Mount Seymour Golf & Country Club, Keith Road at Mount Seymour Highway, a new clubhouse, 1952-53 (Province [Vancouver], 20 Dec. 1952, 17, descrip.)
VANCOUVER, B.C,, Willowstan Park Apartments, Barclay Street at Lagoon Drive, a 6 storey apartment block, 1953 (Province [Vancouver], 28 Feb. 1953, 17, descrip.)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Dolphin Court Housing, West 39th Street near Balsam Street, 1952-53; demol. (Province [Vancouver], 13 Dec. 1952, 10-11, illus. & detailed descrip.; and 13 Feb. 1954, B.C. Living Supplement, p. 1, p. 3 and p. 4, illus. & descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxv, April 1958, 146, illus.)
VANCOUVER, B.C., Metro Parking Ltd. Auto Garage, West Hastings Street at Hornby Street, a three storey outdoor car garage, 1954 (Province [Vancouver], 15 June 1954, 10, illus. & descrip.; Canadian Builder [Toronto], iv, Oct. 1954, 40-41, illus. & descrip.; Batiment [Montreal], xxx, Jan. 1955, 18-19, illus. & descrip.)
VANCOUVER, B.C., a 12 storey apartment block, Alberni Street, between Nicola Street and Broughton Street, 1955 (Province [Vancouver], 30 May 1955, 1)
VANCOUVER, B.C., two apartment blocks, each 8 storeys high, corner of Davie Street at Cardero Street, near English Bay, 1955-56 (Province [Vancouver], 27 Oct. 1955, 22, illus.; Vancouver Sun, 22 Oct. 1955, 53)
COMPETITIONS
REGINA, SASK., WW1 War Memorial Cenotaph, Victoria Park, 1926. Jocelyn Davidson of Toronto was one of 51 architects and artists who submitted a design in this national competition (Morning Leader [Regina], 9 Feb. 1926, 1, full list of competitors). The winner was Robert G. Heughan of Montreal.