Hoare, John Edward, Jr.

HOARE, John Edward, Jr. (1902-1988) of Toronto played an important role in the development of the massive Regent Park Housing complex, an architecturally innovative and socially significant project which was Canada's first public housing complex. Completed in several stages in the early 1950's, Hoare designed the spartan row house and walk-up apartments that were part of this major urban renewal scheme, collaborating with Page & Steele who designed the high rise apartment blocks. Hoare was born in Toronto on 25 August 1902, son of John E. Hoare Sr., a prominent builder. After attending classes at Central Technical School in 1916-19 Hoare worked as a draftsman for Thomas E. Muirhead. He began practise in 1922 and can be credited with several small apartment buildings designed in a modernist idiom rather than the eclectic or period styles which were the convention in many parts of the city. These included The Roycroft Apartments (1939) and The Crofton Apartments (1940). He also collaborated with his brother Edmund Ralph Hoare (1904-1987), who was also listed as an architect (Toronto City Directory, 1934, p. 718). Hoare died in Toronto on 15 September 1988 (death notice in Globe & Mail, 20 Sept. 1988, A20)

WEAR RITE TEXTILE CO., Queen Street East at Empire Avenue, for the British Industrial Corp., 1922 (Toronto b.p. 54606, 20 Sept. 1922)
OAKWOOD MANSIONS, St. Clair Avenue West at Oakwood Avenue, for E.R. Hoare, 1927 (Toronto b.p. A276, 28 June 1927)
AVENUE ROAD, north of Cottingham Street, two apartment blocks at 326 and 330 Avenue Road, west side, 1928-29 (Toronto Daily Star, 1 Oct. 1928, 12)
BATHURST STREET, at Tichester Road, apartment house, 1929 (C.R., xliii, 9 Jan. 1929, 50)
RENOWN PLUMBING SUPPLIES LTD., Parliament Street, north of Shuter Street, showroom and warehouse, 1930; still standing in 2024 at 246 Parliament Street (Toronto Daily Star, 26 Sept. 1930, 31, descrip.)
YONGE STREET, near Glencairn Avenue, a row of three stores with dwellings over, 1932 (Toronto Daily Star, 10 June 1932, 38)
QUEEN STREET EAST, west of Lee Avenue, row of three stores at 2032-2036 at Queen Street East, for the Burgess Estate, 1933, second floor offices added c. 1950; still standing in 2024 (Const., xxvii, May/June 1934, 70, illus.; Building In Canada (Toronto), Jan. 1936, illus.; dwgs. at City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 410)
FOREST HILL, large residence at the s.e. corner of Ava Road and Glen Ayr Road, and sold to Mr. Bastedo, 1934 (Toronto Daily Star, 9 Nov. 1934, 8, descrip.)
FOREST HILL, large residence at 308 Warren Road, near Chaplin Crescent, for an unnamed owner, 1934-35, still standing in 2024 (Toronto Daily Star, 26 April 1935, 39, illus.; and 10 May 1935, 19, descrip.)
VILLAGE MANOR APARTMENTS, Eglinton Avenue West near Walmer Road, 1935 (C.R., xlix, 19 June 1935, 34; and vol. 50, 24 Nov. 1937, 8, illus.; Toronto Daily Star, 7 Aug. 1936, 15)
FOREST HILL, large residence at 15 Robinwood Avenue, near Vesta Drive, 1935-36; demol. c. 2000 (Toronto Daily Star, 8 May 1936, 10, illus. & descrip.)
LYTTON BOULEVARD, residence for W. Noel Binns, 1936 (C.H.G., xiv, July/Aug. 1937, 31, illus.)
DRAYTON MANOR APARTMENTS, Russell Hill Road, 1937 (Toronto Daily Star, 5 March 1937, 12, descrip.; C.R., Vol. 50, 24 Nov. 1937, 10, illus.)
SHENSTONE COURT APARTMENTS, Russell Hill Road, 1937 (Toronto Daily Star, 5 March 1937, 12, descrip.; inf. Ontario Association of Architects, Membership papers)
NORTH YORK, large residence for William H. Barnes, on Bridle Path, east of Bayview Avenue, 1937-38 (Toronto Star, 2 July 1937, 5, and 24 Dec. 1937, 8, illus. & descrip.)
FOREST HILL, large residence at 21 Elderwood Drive, near Vesta Drive, for an unnamed client, 1937 (Toronto Daily Star, 24 Sept. 1937, 8, illus.)
DuMAURIER APARTMENTS, DuMaurier Boulevard, Phase 1, 1937-38; Phase 2, 1941 (Toronto Daily Star, 5 March 1937, 12, descrip.; R.A.I.C. Journal, xv, Oct. 1938, 9, illus. in advert.; Toronto b.p. 70836, 3 Feb. 1941)
GRANT MOVIE THEATRE, Oakwood Avenue at Vaughan Road, 1937 (Toronto Daily Star, 30 Aug. 1937, 26, advert. for the architect)
ST. LEONARD’S AVENUE, at Mount Pleasant Road, residence at 54 St. Leonard’s Avenue, for an unnamed client, 1937 (Toronto Daily Star, 3 Dec. 1937, 7, illus. & descrip.)
ROYCROFT APARTMENTS, Eglinton Avenue West at Vesta Drive, 1939-40 (C.R., lii, 31 May 1939, 31; and liv, 23 July 1941, 39, illus. in advert.)
CROFTON APARTMENTS, Eglinton Avenue West, 1940 (C.R., liii, 3 April 1940, 24, t.c.; liii, 25 Dec. 1940, 53, illus. in advert.)
ROGERS MAJESTIC CORP., Fleet Street West at Bathurst Street, major addition to factory, 1942; demol. (inf. Ontario Association of Architects, Membership papers)
REGENT PARK HOUSING, on the block bounded by Gerrard Street East, Dundas Street East, Parliament Street and River Street, Phase 1, 1948-49; Phase 2, 1953-56 (Toronto Daily Star, 29 Nov. 1947, 4, detailed descrip.; and 23 July 1948, 15, illus.; C.R., xli, May 1948, 179; Toronto b.p. 5151, 24 Oct. 1949; R.A.I.C. Journal, xxxiv, April 1957, 122-27, illus. & descrip.)