Catto, Lt. Col. Douglas Ellisson | Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada

CATTO, Lt. Col. Douglas Ellisson (1899-1973) was born and educated in Toronto and spent much of his career there in partnership with his older brother Ronald W. Catto from 1925 until 1939, and later as an associate and partner in the firm of Allward & Gouinlock. Born in Toronto on 13 April 1899 he attended Central Technical School and graduated from the School of Architecture at the University of Toronto in 1923. He trained in the offices of J. Will Wilson in Detroit, in Toronto for John M. Lyle, and in office of his brother Ronald A. Catto. In 1925 the brothers launched the practice of Catto & Catto and specialised in residential designs for wealthy clients in the Rosedale, Forest Hill, Lawrence Park and Kingsway neighbourhoods of Toronto. Catto served in both WWI and WWII and was taken prisoner in August 1942 during the Dieppe raid and was held in camps for three years before his release in late 1945. He was nominated as a Fellow of the R.A.I.C. in 1957 and elected President of the Ontario Assoc. of Architects in 1961. He died in Bracebridge, Ont. on 26 July 1973 (obit. Toronto Star, 27 July 1973, 36; Globe & Mail [Toronto], 27 July 1973, 3; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects)