FRAPPIER, Sylva (1874-1951), active in Montreal, Que. for nearly thirty years before he moved to Quebec City to serve as Chief Architect of the provincial Dept. of Public Works. Born in Montreal in 1874, he received his early training there and served an apprenticeship with an architect in that city. He opened his own office in 1896 but early in his career he appears to have suffered a financial setback, and it was reported that “…a meeting of his creditors was held Monday last” (C.R., xi, 24 Jan. 1900, 3), but this seems to have been a temporary situation, and within months he was once again active, designing tenements and cottages for French-speaking clientele in Montreal. Much of his practise was devoted to residential work, with plans for duplex and triplex houses in Outremont, Montreal and in Westmount, as well as multi-unit apartment buildings in that city. Unlike many of his professional colleagues, he conspicuously avoided taking on commissions for ecclesiastical and institutional work from the Roman Catholic dioceses in the region.
Frappier was admitted as a member of the Province of Quebec Assoc. of Architects in 1917, and he continued to work in Montreal until May 1927 when he was appointed Chief Architect and Director of the Provincial Public Works Dept. for the Province of Quebec, succeeding the late George Saint-Michel (C.R., xl, 3 Nov. 1926, 1059; Montreal Daily Star, 23 May 1927, 6). For the next twenty years, Frappier contributed to the design of many buildings erected by the provincial government in Quebec. His most significant commission during this period was for the elaborate Beaux-Arts design of the interior spaces of the Palace of Justice in Quebec City. There, the corridors and the sweeping curved staircase are richly ornate, with a deep coffered ceiling in the public concourse incorporating decorative elements executed in a palette of materials including marble, bronze and figurative plaster moldings. Frappier held this post of Chief Architect until his retirement in 1946. He died in Montreal on 12 January 1951 (obit. La Presse [Montreal], 13 Jan. 1951, 57; Gazette [Montreal], 15 Jan. 1951, 23; biog. L. Noppen et al, Quebec Monumental 1890-1990, 1990, 181)
Sylva FRAPPIER (works in Montreal unless noted)
HUTCHISON STREET, residence for P. Brouillette, 1896 (C.R., vii, 2 Nov. 1896, 3)
LONGUEUIL, seven cottages for A.W. Glassford, 1896 (C.R., vii, 3 Dec. 1896, 2, t.c.)
ST. HENRI, two cottages on St. James Street for M.G. Lefebvre, 1897 (C.R., viii, 8 April 1897, 4)
ST. HIPPOLYTE STREET, two houses for Ernest Bregent, 1897 (C.R., viii, 17 June 1897, 2)
MONTREAL ANNEX, two cottages on St. George Street for J.D.R. Frappier and S. Frappier, 1897 (C.R., viii, 12 Aug. 1897, 2, t.c.)
MONTREAL ANNEX, cottage on Park Avenue for Joseph Mennier, 1897 (C.R., viii, 19 Aug. 1897, 2, t.c.)
MONTREAL ANNEX, cottage on Durocher Street for G. Robert, 1898 (C.R., ix, 23 Feb. 1898, 3)
ST. URBAIN STREET, four houses for P. Rouiller, 1899 (Le Prix Courant, xxiii, 27 Jan. 1899, 321)
ESPLANADE, a house for D. Lalonde, 1899 (Le Prix Courant, xxiii, 27 Jan. 1899, 321)
AMHERST STREET, residence and clinic for Dr. Damase Genereaux, 1900 (C.R., xi, 5 Dec. 1900, 2)
ST. HIPPOLYTE STREET, tenement for J.F. Hawke, 1901 (Le Prix Courant, xxxi, 24 May 1901, 795)
HOTEL DE VILLE AVENUE, cottage for E.W. Desparois, 1901 (Le Prix Courant, xxxii, 4 Oct. 1901, 542)
STE. CATHERINE STREET WEST, near St. Urbain Street, store and warehouse for E. Major, 1902 (Le Prix Courant, xxxiv, 11 July 1902, 42)
COWAN STREET, near St. Zotique Street, house for Mrs. M.C. Lebeau, 1904 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 21, 1904, 40)
AMHERST STREET, near Ste. Catherine Street West, row of 3 shops with apartments above, for J.O. DuBois, 1909 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 25, 1909, 44)
SOULANDES STREET, near Grand Trunk Street, pair of tenement houses for A. Benoit, 1909 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. No. 25, 1909, 44)
WESTMOUNT, pair of houses for Mrs. Abigal McGoun, Upper Bellevue Avenue, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 12 April 1922, 58)
FAIRMOUNT AVENUE WEST, at Clark Street, residence for S. Slopack, 1923 (Le Prix Courant, lvi, 18 May 1923, 44)
WALDORF ASTORIA APARTMENTS, Girouard Avenue at Sherbrooke Street West, 1925 (C.R., xxxix, 28 Jan. 1925, 55; 8 April 1925, 57)
WESTMOUNT, West Hall Apartments, Sherbrooke Street West at Redfern Avenue, 1926 (Montreal, Les Appartements, 1991, 299-300, illus.)
Sylva FRAPPIER (works in Outremont)
McDOUGALL AVENUE, residence for L.M. Giasson, 1910 (Outremont b.p. 346, 4 July 1910)
DUROCHER AVENUE, residence for John H.W. Chandler, 1910 (Outremont b.p. 508, 21 June 1910)
CHAMPAGNEUR AVENUE, flats for V. Vaillancourt, 1911 (Outremont b.p. 576, 10 Nov. 1911)
L’EPEE AVENUE, two houses for Laurent & Son, 1912 (Outremont b.p. 614, 29 April 1912)
CHAMPAGNEUR AVENUE, row of three houses for E. Lamontagne, 1912 (Outremont b.p. 624, 10 May 1912)
DUROCHER AVENUE, triplex house for Napolean Cousineau, 1912 (Outremont b.p. 673, 26 July 1912)
OUTREMONT AVENUE, at Van Horne Avenue, store and flats for L.M. Giasson, 1912 (Outremont b.p. 723, 5 Nov. 1912)
DAVAAR AVENUE, pair of houses for Laurent & Son, 1913 (Outremont b.p. 745, 17 March 1913)
OUTREMONT AVENUE, residence for P.P. Boileau, 1913 (Outremont b.p. 866, 28 Oct. 1913)
STUART AVENUE, residence for H. Peladeau, 1914 (Outremont b.p. 933, 30 May 1914)
DAVAAR AVENUE, duplex house for R. McCrudden, 1916 (Outremont b.p. 1041, 29 June 1916)
LUXONIA APARTMENTS, Joyce Avenue at Wiseman Avenue, 1921 (Montreal, Les Appartements, 1991, 221-3, illus.)
WISEMAN AVENUE, residence for F.H. Fox, 1921 (Outremont b.p. 1438, 29 Nov. 1921)
BLOOMFIELD AVENUE, residence for E.Z. LeBlanc, 1923-24 (Outremont b.p. 1740, 31 Dec. 1923)
LAJOIE AVENUE, a row of three houses for J. Gersovitz, 1925 (Outremont b.p. 2006, 16 Nov. 1925)
HUTCHISON STREET, a row of three houses for Segal & Chait, 1925-26 (Outremont b.p. 2012, 24 Dec. 1925)
MARCIL AVENUE, eight houses for Lancashire Land & Const. Co., 1926 (C.R., xl, 12 May 1926, 57)
Sylva FRAPPIER (works in Quebec City)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., office building for J.A. Cote, St. Paul Street, 1920 (City of Quebec b.p. 5341, 12 May 1920)
QUEBEC CITY, QUE., rebuilding and restoration of the Palais de Justice, St. Louis Street, with addition of tower in the courtyard, 1927 (C.R., xli, 8 June 1927, 52; Quebec City b.p. 1328, 22 July 1927; L. Noppen et al, Quebec Monumental 1890-1990, 35, illus. and descrip.)