CARPENTER, Donald David (1906-1965), active in Vancouver, B.C. from 1927 onward where he was a pupil of, then assistant to, Theodore Korner, an early modernist architect in that city. Carpenter was born in California on 3 January 1906, but no information has been found on his education there. He arrived in Canada in 1927, and was later credited with the design of 20 houses in the Dunbar Heights neighbourhood of the city. Initiated by developer H. Tang, it consisted of 20 two-storey houses located on a single city block, bounded by West 27th Avenue, King Edward Avenue, Blenheim Street and Balaclava Street (The Province [Vancouver], 24 April 1937, 8, illus. & detailed descrip.). The first demonstration house, completed in early 1937, was designed in the “Modern Georgian" style, and the other houses were completed in a variety of styles including Spanish, Cape Cod and modern. Carpenter was also the architect of the office and factory for Research Industries Ltd., West 3rd Avenue near Burrard Street, Vancouver in 1952 (dwgs. at Vancouver City Archives). Carpenter died in Vancouver on 5 March 1965.
COMPETITIONS
DOMINION HOUSING ACT, Ottawa, 1936. Carpenter was one of over 100 architects who submitted plans, and his cautious Tudor Revival design was later published (Dominion Housing Act - Low Cost House Designs, 1936, p. 77, illus.). He was not one of the fourteen finalists, and the winner was William Ralston of Toronto.