MacVicar, Donald Norman
MACVICAR, Donald Norman (1869-1929), an important architect active in Montreal for the duration of his career, working on under his own name, or in a series of partnerships that included:
Brown & MacVicar (1894 to 1895)
Brown, MacVicar & Heriot (1896 to 1897)
MacVicar & Heriot (1898 to 1921)
D.N. MacVicar (1921 to 1929)
Born in Montreal, Que. on 17 August 1869, he studied at public and high schools in Montreal, but did not appear to have obtained any formal university education in architecture. Instead, much of his experience was gained by working under the direct supervision of Sir Andrew T. Taylor (of Taylor & Gordon), a leading architect in Montreal during the last two decades of the 19th C. MacVicar joined Taylor’s office in 1888 and remained there until at least 1893, then traveled in Europe before returning to Montreal. In 1894 he was invited by David R. Brown, a talented young architect who was exactly the same age as MacVicar, to form a new partnership (see list of works under Brown & MacVicar). They were joined by a new partner, John C.A. Heriot, in 1896, but Brown left to create his own firm in 1898, and MacVicar & Heriot launched their own office which was to become both successful and prosperous. More than one hundred institutional, commercial and residential works were completed by the firm during the next twenty years,.
MacVicar was adept at employing a variety of eclectic styles in his work including the Queen Anne style, particularly evident in the elaborate patterned brick walls of The New Sherbrooke Apartments (1905), and in his modern Gothic design for the castellated walls of the Prince of Wales Armoury (1907). His most important industrial project were carried out for the Caron family, a wealthy family of Montreal industrialists headed by three brothers, Adolphe L. Caron, J.A. Caron, and R.E. Caron. This included the immense Caron Building (1923-24), an 10 storey fireproof brick loft building on Bleury Street, comprising 250,000 square feet of office and industrial space, and constructed to fill the entire block. MacVicar wrapped the entire building on the first two floors with an elaborate cut stone facing executed in the modern Gothic style, adding a similar stone treatment to the uppermost corner bays of the block.
The partnership of Mac Vicar & Heriot ended with the unexpected death of Heriot in July 1921. MacVicar then continued to practise on his own, but he retained the joint name of his firm, presumably out of respect for his late partner. MacVicar served as President of the Province of Quebec Association of Architects in 1920, and died in Montreal on 26 March 1929 (obit. Gazette [Montreal], 27 March 1929, 10; obit. and port. Montreal Daily Star, 27 March 1929, 6; Canadian Engineer [Montreal], lvi, 9 April 1929, 426; obit. R.A.I.C. Journal, vi, April 1929, page xxxviii-xxix; biog. Ross Hamilton, Prominent Men of Canada, 1931-32, 484-5; list of exhibited works in E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy – Exhibitions and Members 1880-1979, 1981, 263-64)
MACVICAR & HERIOT
(works in Montreal unless noted)
Institutional & Ecclesiastical Works
STRATHCONA ACADEMY, Cote Ste. Catherine Road at Pagnuelo Avenue, 1898; additions 1913, 1922, 1927 (R.A.I.C. Journal, v, April 1928, vi, illus. in advert.; Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 280-3, illus.)
LACHUTE, QUE., Presbyterian Church, 1899 (C.R., x, 31 May 1899, 3)
VANKLEEK HILL, ONT., Knox Presbyterian Church, 1899 (C.R., x, 25 Oct. 1899, 2)
FAIRMOUNT SCHOOL, Esplanade Avenue at Fairmount Avenue, additions, 1901, 1904 (C.R., xii, 27 Feb. 1901, 3, t.c.; Daily Star [Montreal], 25 June 1904, 13, illus. & descrip.)
VANKLEEK HILL, ONT., Public School, 1901 (C.R., xii, 28 Aug. 1901, 1, t.c.)
CHESTERVILLE, ONT., Public School, 1903 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibitions & Members 1880-1979, 263)
OUTREMONT, Presbyterian Church, Hutchison Street, 1905; demol. (Outremont b.p. 20, 19 June 1905)
PRINCE OF WALES ARMOURY, for the 66th Regiment, Pine Avenue East at Drolet Street, 1907 (C.A.B., xx, July 1907, Architect’s Edition, illus.; C.R., xxii, 10 June 1908, 28; Montreal, Architecture Militaire, 1982, 2-5, illus. but lacking attribution)
POINTE-AUX-TREMBLES, French Evangelical Institute, Notre Dame Street East, 1907 (Esquise-Historique de l’Institute Francais Evangelique de la Pointe-Aux-Trembles, 1948, 27, illus.)
VERDUN, Town Hall, Church Avenue at Evelyn Street, 1908 (Montreal Daily Star, 29 Aug. 1908, 12, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxii, 9 Sept. 1908, 27)
VERDUN, Model School, LaSalle Road, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 5 May 1909, 19)
MACVICAR MEMORIAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, St. Viateur Avenue West at Hutchison Street, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 25 Oct. 1911, 59-60; Standard [Montreal], 6 Sept. 1913, 6, illus. & descrip.)
GRENADIER GUARDS ARMOURY, for the First Regiment, Esplanade Street at Rachel Street, 1913 (Montreal Witness, 1 March 1913, illus.; Montreal, Architecture Militaire, 1982, 6-9, illus.)
AHUNTSIC WARD, Episcopal Church, 1915 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts – Exhibitions & Members 1880-1979, 264)
TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH, Durocher Avenue at Bernard Avenue, enlargement and alterations, 1920 (Montreal, Les Eglises, 1981, 454-5, illus.)
ALFRED JOYCE HIGH SCHOOL, Durocher Avenue at Fairmount Avenue, addition and alterations, 1920 (Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 4-5)
VERDUN, Chalmers Presbyterian Church, Ross Street, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 19 July 1922, 54)
FAIRMOUNT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Masson Street at Papineau Avenue, 1922 (C.R., xxxvi, 28 June 1922, 92)
POINTE CLAIRE, QUE., Lilly Memorial Presbyterian Church, Cedar Avenue, 1922-23 (inf. from United Church Archives, Toronto; dwgs. at OA, Sproatt & Rolph Coll.)
GUY DRUMMOND SCHOOL, Lajoie Avenue at Dollard Boulevard, 1923 (Montreal, Les Edifices Scolaires, 1980, 54-5, illus.)
AHUNTSIC UNITED CHURCH, Peloquin Street at Prieur Street, 1928 (C.R., xlii, 1 Feb. 1928, 46)
Commercial & Industrial Works
STE. CATHERINE STREET WEST, near Peel Street, commercial block for R.J. Inglis, 1902 (Gazette [Montreal], 17 Jan. 1902, 6, descrip.)
SHERWIN-WILLIAMS PAINT CO., Centre Street at Atwater Avenue, warehouse and offices, 1901; varnish factory, 1907 (C.R., xii, 11 Sept. 1901, 2; Le Prix Courant, Week No. 37, 1907, 44; Montreal, Architecture Industrielle, 1982, 178-81, illus.)
DOMINION MILLS, Prince Street, for Lyman & Son, 1902 (C.R., xiii, 16 April 1902, 4)
SEMI-READY CLOTHING CO., Guy Street, factory for William Yuile, 1903, additions, 1910 (Le Prix Courant, xxxv, 3 April 1903, 39; C.R., xxiv, 4 May 1910, 25)
MUSSEN BUILDING, Notre Dame Street West at St. Laurent Boulevard, 1905 (Montreal Daily Star, 22 Dec. 1904, 9, illus. & descrip.; C.A.B., xviii, April 1905, 61, descrip.; Montreal, Les Hotels Les Immeubles de Bureaux, 1983, 103-05, illus.)
HOWE, McINTYRE & CO., Youville Square near St. Peter Street, warehouse, 1906 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 27, 1906, 42)
KEMP MANUFACTURING CO., St. Antoine Street, warehouse, 1906 (C.A.B., xix, Aug. 1906, 122)
GEORGE VIPOND & CO., St. Paul Street, warehouse, 1906 (C.A.B., xix, Aug. 1906, 122)
J.D. DUNCAN DAIRY CO., Mountain Street near Dorchester Street West, new warehouse, 1906; additions 1909 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 16, 1906, 46; C.R., xxiii, 6 Jan. 1909, 22)
J. EVELEIGH & CO., College Street, factory, 1909 (C.R., xxiii, 14 April 1909, 23)
BERLINER GRAMAPHONE CO., St. Antoine Street at Lenoir Street, factory, 1910; addition of three floors, 1911; boiler house, 1914; warehouse, 1920 (C.R., xxiv, 27 July 1910, 27; xxv, 29 March 1911, 53; xxxv, 19 Jan. 1921, 55-6, illus. & descrip.)
WESTMOUNT, Crown Laundry, Ste. Catherine Street West near Greene Avenue, 1910 (Westmount News, 27 Jan. 1911, 3, illus. & descrip.)
CARON BUILDING, Bleury Street near Dorchester Boulevard West, 1910-11 (C.R., xxiv, 14 Dec. 1910, 27; La Presse [Montreal], 3 Dec. 1910, 14, illus. & descrip.; Montreal, Architecture Industrielle, 1982, 44-5, illus. but lacking attribution)
MONTREAL STAR, St. James Street, warehouse, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 21 June 1911, 64)
COMET MOTOR CAR CO., University Street, garage, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 30 Aug. 1911, 62)
W.V. DAWSON & CO., St. Urbain Street at Lagauchetiere Street, factory, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 18 Oct. 1911, 60)
MAPPIN & WEBB CO., Ste. Catherine Street West at Victoria Street, an office block erected by the Johnson Brothers, 1911-12 (C.R., xxv, 20 Dec. 1911, 63)
FRASER BUILDING, reconstruction of office and stores, Park Avenue, 1915 (C.R., xxix, 13 Jan. 1915, 53)
CARON BROTHERS, Lannes Street at Esplanade Avenue, factory, 1918 (C.R., xxxii, 16 Oct. 1918, 837-8, illus. & descrip.)
CARON BUILDING, Bleury Street at Concord Street, 1923-24 (Const., xvi, Sept. 1923, 311-14, illus. & descrip.; xvii, Aug. 1924, 256-61, illus. & descrip.; C.R., xxxviii, 23 April 1924, 393-4, illus. & dsecrip.; Architectural Forum [New York], xli, Sept. 1924, 158, illus.; Montreal, Architecture Industrielle, 1982, 42-3, illus.)
TORONTO, ONT., Gowans Kent Building, with showroom and factory for Cassidy’s Ltd., Front Street West near Yonge Street, 1923 (Toronto b.p. 58937, 9 April 1923)
PARKE-DAVIS BUILDING, St. Alexander Street, 1925 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibitions & Members 1880-1979, 1981, 264)
Residential Works
McGREGOR STREET, at Simpson Street, for Benjamin Tooke, 1899 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 May 1899, 3; F. Remillard & B. Merrett, Mansions of the Golden Square Mile Montreal 1850-1930, 160-1, illus.; Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 718-21, illus.)
SHERBROOKE STREET WEST, near Guy Street, two houses for Clarence J. McCuaig, 1899 (Gazette [Montreal], 13 May 1899, 3; C.A.B., xiv, July 1901, illus.; Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 648-9, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, ‘Winton Hall’, for Lewis Skaife, Churchill Avenue, 1900 (C.A.B., xiv, Feb. 1901, 28, descrip. & illus. plate)
UPPER STANLEY STREET, for Charles A. Barnard, 1900 (C.R., xi, 9 May 1900, 3)
CACOUNA, QUE., summer house for C.J. Cockburn, 1901 (C.R., xii, 11 Sept. 1901, 2)
DORCHESTER STREET WEST, stable and coach house for the mansion of Sir Thomas G. Shaughnessy, 1901 (C.R., xii, 25 Sept. 1901, 3)
BISHOP STREET, for Dr. F.R. England, 1903 (C.R., xiv, 20 May 1903, 3)
STANLEY STREET, for Dr. F. Buller, 1904 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 21, 1904, 40)
McGREGOR STREET, for R.A. Dunton, 1905 (Le Prix Courant, Week No. 15, 1905, 58)
THE NEW SHERBROOKE APARTMENTS, Sherbrooke Street West at Bishop Street, for Roswell C. Fisher, 1905 (C.A.B., xv, Aug. 1902, illus.; xviii, March 1905, 45; Montreal Daily Star, 16 March 1906, 19, illus.; Montreal, Les Appartements, 1990, 372-5, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, for John Stewart, Roslyn Avenue, 1905 (Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 682-3, illus.)
WESTMOUNT, for J. W. Tatley, Belvedere Road, 1906 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibitions & Members 1880-1979, 264)
MANSFIELD STREET, for John Fair, 1909 (E. McMann, Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Exhibitions & Members 1880-1979, 264)
ATWATER AVENUE, at Tupper Street, row of seven houses for the Durnford Estate, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 9 March 1910, 23)
MOUNTAIN STREET, for Clarence J. McCuaig, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 9 March 1910, 23)
McGREGOR STREET, for Herbert B. Walker, 1910 (C.R., xxiv, 18 May 1910, 28)
McGREGOR STREET, for Anson McKim, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 10 May 1911, 56)
WESTMOUNT, ‘Braewell’, for Benjamin Tooke, Braeside Place, 1911 (C.R., xxv, 30 Aug. 1911, 61)
OUTREMONT, for Adolphe L. Caron, Maplewood Avenue, 1912; additions 1923 (Montreal, Les Residences, 1987, 132-5, illus.)
McTAVISH STREET, addition and alterations to residence for Henry H. Lyman, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 27 Aug. 1913, 73)
COTE DES NEIGES ROAD, near Cedar Avenue, for Carl Riordan, 1913 (C.R., xxvii, 3 Sept. 1913, 74)
WINDSOR MILLS, QUE., for F.J. Campbell, 1917 (C.R., xxxi, 17 Jan. 1917, 40)
OUTREMONT, pair of houses for R.W. Burry, Beloeil Avenue, 1921 (Outremont b.p. 1430, 3 Nov. 1921)