McCLARE, Charles Herbert (1861-1956) spent much of his professional career in Cambridge, Mass. where he planned several school buildings and designed churches in the surrounding towns of Somerville, Gloucester, Lynn, Dorchester, and Arlington. Born in Sackville, N.B. on 15 February 1861 he moved to the Boston area in 1884 and trained under two local architects while attending courses in the Dept. of Architecture at Harvard University. He opened his own office there in 1890 but continued his connections with his family in the Canadian Maritimes. In 1906 he was one of twelve entrants who submitted plans in the competition for the new Science Building at Acadia University. McClare was awarded First Premium for his refined neo-Georgian design, completed in 1909. In 1910 he was the driving force behind the purchase of 'Lakelands', a large estate intended for a resort development facing Lake Laurence in Hants Co., Nova Scotia. The prospectus of the company printed in 1912 included designs by McClare for the railway station, cottages and a large hotel, but it is uncertain if any portion of the scheme was built. McClare died at Rye, N.Y. on 16 June 1956 (death notice Chronicle-Herald [Halifax], 18 June 1956, 20; biog. H. Morgan, Canadian Men & Women of the Time, 1912, 751; inf. Mrs. M.R. McClare, Halifax). The Boston Public Library holds a small collection of drawings by McClare for works located in the Boston and Cambridge area.
(works in Nova Scotia)
WOLFVILLE, N.S., Carnegie Science Hall, Acadia University, a commission won in a competition, 1908-09 (Evening Mail [Halifax], 1 May 1908, 8; and 13 June 1908, 4; C.R., xxii, 3 June 1908, 27, t.c.; R. S. Longley, Acadia University 1838-1938, 1939, 108-09, illus.)
WOLFVILLE, N.S., semi-detached cottages for Mrs. R.D.G. Harris, Seaview Avenue, 1913 (Acadian [Wolfville], 7 Nov. 1913, 3; and 5 Dec. 1913, 1; and 28 Aug. 1914, 3)
(works in Massachusetts)
NORTH CAMBRIDGE, MASS., a double apartment house on St. James Avenue, for J.E. Lamb, 1893 (Boston Evening Transcript, 2 March 1893, 3)
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., residence for John G. Brooks, 1894 (Boston Evening Transcript, 17 July 1894, 10)
NORTH CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Richardson Public School, Cedar Street at Dudley Street, 1894-95 (Boston Daily Globe, 1 Sept. 1894, 5, illus. & descrip.)
CAMBRIDGEPORT, MASS., a large apartment block of 125 suites, on Austin Street, near Inman Street, 1900-1901 (Boston Daily Globe, 12 Dec. 1900, 2; Boston Evening Transcript, 15 April 1901, 6)
CAMBRIDGE, MASS., Colonial Court Apartments, Lee Avenue, a 4 storey residential block, 1901 (Boston Globe, 5 Aug. 1901, 9, illus. & descrip.)
COMPETITIONS
ARLINGTON, MASS., High School, 1914. McClare was one of 3 architects who presented plans for the proposed new building (Boston Globe, 26 Feb. 1914, 8). It is unclear who won the competition.